Ontological Instability For Beginners: A New Metaphysical Framework
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: For over two millennia, Western metaphysics has been dominated by a stability-oriented paradigm, seeking permanent substances and unchanging laws as the foundation of reality. This presentation challenges this enduring framework by proposing a radical alternative: Ontological Instability. It argues that instability, uncertainty, and fluctuation are not deficiencies to be overcome but are fundamental, positive characteristics of being itself. Drawing upon convergent evidence from quantum mechanics, process philosophy, and Buddhist thought, the presentation demonstrates the inherent contradictions within the classical notion of stability through the Stabilization Paradox, Temporal Contradiction, and Relational Undermining. We introduce Fluctuational Ontology as a new metaphysical framework that inverts the traditional hierarchy, positing processes of becoming as ontologically prior to stable entities. This model is built upon foundational principles including Primary Fluctuation, Processual Priority, and Relational Constitution, and is operationalized through concepts such as Fluctuational Fields, Emergence Events, and Becoming-Patterns. The implications of this shift are profound, suggesting new, adaptive approaches in scientific experimentation, participatory democracy, and process-oriented therapy. By embracing ontological instability, we move from seeking fixed foundations to developing a philosophy that creatively engages with a dynamic, emergent, and fundamentally relational reality.
Author: Tan, Kwan Hong
Institution: Singapore University of Social Sciences
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7105209372
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