Published February 16, 2026 | Version v1
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Determinacy as Relational Achievement: Symmetry, Constraint, and Individuation in Physics (Quantum Mechanics), Biology (Biosemiotics), and Interactive Formal Systems (Large Language Models)

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of Toronto

Description

This manuscript develops a relational, processual ontology in which determinacy is not presupposed as an intrinsic property of objects but emerges through structured processes of symmetry breaking, constraint formation, and synchronization across interacting systems. Challenging classical object-centered ontology and its reliance on efficient causation, the work argues that determinacy, identity, probability, and significance arise as relational achievements. The framework is articulated in general form and then realized across three structurally distinct domains: quantum mechanics, biosemiotics, and large language models. In each case, a pre-individuated field of relational possibility is differentiated through constraint; probability functions non-epistemically as a measure of relational compatibility; and stable identity emerges as a re-enterable regime of coordinated interaction. By demonstrating structural isomorphism across physical, biological, and formal computational systems, the manuscript proposes a unified ontological orientation in which determinacy is understood as the stabilization of constrained relational freedom rather than as the persistence of intrinsic entities.

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