Western Philosophy and the Becoming of Possibility: 12 Reflexive Ontology: The 21st Century and the Becoming of Possibility

As we enter the 21st century, the trajectory traced from mythos to logos, from transcendence to immanence, from historical dialectic to posthuman relationality converges in what can be called a reflexive ontology. Possibility is no longer external to thought, subjectivity, or practice; it is enacted, co-constituted, and historically situated. Construal itself is an ontological act: to interpret, to act, and to relate is simultaneously to shape what is possible in the world.

In this framework, the boundaries between subject and object, human and non-human, structure and event dissolve into relational processes. Possibility is understood as a historical horizon — emerging, contingent, and temporally extended. Every act of construal participates in the actualisation of potentialities while simultaneously reconfiguring the space of what can be thought, done, or known in the future. Knowledge, ethics, and meaning are inseparable from this ongoing enactment of possibility.

Reflexive ontology foregrounds the co-dependence of perception, conception, and materiality. Worlds are constituted through interaction, and the horizon of possibility is constantly re-cut by technological innovation, ecological change, social transformation, and the evolving capacities of human and non-human agents. Construal is therefore dynamic: it acknowledges the multiplicity of perspectives, the interdependence of actors, and the contingency of historical unfolding.

The 21st century presents both unprecedented potential and profound complexity. Reflexive ontology equips us to navigate this terrain by recognising that the becoming of possibility is inseparable from the acts through which we engage with the world. Philosophy, in this sense, is not merely reflective but performative: it maps and participates in the very processes it seeks to understand.

Thus, the contemporary horizon of thought is a field in which construal, possibility, and history intersect. We inherit the cuts of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and the posthuman theorists, yet each act of interpretation and engagement reopens the field, demonstrating that the becoming of possibility is not a static inheritance but an ongoing, relational, and reflexive project. In this way, possibility is neither predetermined nor exhausted; it is the living horizon of our collective, co-constituted becoming.