In the wake of cosmology without origin, we face a radical question: if the universe does not begin in matter, energy, or time, what grounds its intelligibility? The answer is not in physical substrates but in meaning itself.
Relational ontology reveals that no phenomenon exists unconstrued. Every event, object, or law is intelligible only through the cuts applied to relational potentials. Spacetime itself is a phenomenon, a pattern of relational distinctions, not a stage on which phenomena occur.
Actualisation and Intelligibility
The universe does not exist independently of intelligibility; it exists as intelligible. Its “existence” is always actualised through relational perspectives. A galaxy, a particle, a law of physics—none are present in a vacuum of reality; all are first-order meanings, actualisations of structured potential.
From First-Order Meaning to Metaphenomena
To navigate this, we distinguish two layers:
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First-order meaning: the phenomenon as it is actualised and intelligible.
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Metaphenomena: the constraints that shape what can be actualised—patterns, regularities, laws.
Cosmology, physics, mathematics, and even our perception of space emerge as metaphenomena—systems of constraints that make relational potentials intelligible.
A Universe in Semiosis
From this perspective, the universe is not a stage with pre-existing objects. It is a network of relational potentials that become intelligible through semiosis. Spacetime, matter, and energy are all phenomena of construal, arising from patterns of relational differentiation.
In Series II, we will follow this thread: from first-order meaning to metaphenomena, from relational potentials to structured constraints, and towards the insight that the universe itself is intelligible because it is in semiosis.
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