Revision 5 · Jan 2026

Abstract

This is the abstract from the Rev 5 master text. It is the best “one page” statement of scope, commitments, and evaluation criteria.

This work presents the Informational Ontology as a scope-disciplined ontological framework

describing a sequence of organizational regimes: Difference, Relation, Information, Awareness,

Value, Meaning, and Purpose (Δ → R → I → A → V → M → P). The framework is not offered as

an axiom-only derivation of all possible being. Instead, it specifies structural constraints that

become unavoidable under explicit conditions: differentiation, ordering, and selection under

perturbation.

The ontology is structural rather than empirical. It does not propose physical models, cognitive

mechanisms, or normative prescriptions. It articulates the conditions under which systems

capable of registration, differential constraint, coherent organization, and self-influencing

trajectories can arise, without assuming any particular implementation.

The core derivation is presented without reliance on metaphor, intuition pumps, or

application-specific examples. Exploratory material and boundary analyses are separated into

appendices. The framework is intended to be evaluated on internal coherence, clarity of scope,

and the adequacy of its stated premises and regime transitions.