2 Life Reconstrued: 4 The Organism as Horizon: How Life Co-Defines Its World

Having traced living systems from relational fields to the actualisation of value, we now broaden our lens: the organism does not exist in isolation. Its relational field extends outward, entwining with its environment, shaping possibilities while being shaped by them. In relational ontology, the organism is best understood as a horizon of potential, not a discrete, self-contained unit.

Consider the implications:

• Perception as modulation: Sensory systems do not passively record “data” from the environment. They actively modulate internal potentials in response to environmental conditions, establishing a dynamic feedback loop between organism and world.

• Environmental shaping: The organism modifies its environment — physically, chemically, socially — which in turn alters the relational field that constrains and enables further action. A beaver’s dam, an ant colony’s nest, or even a neuron’s synaptic landscape illustrate how the organism extends its horizon into the world.

• Co-emergence: The organism and its environment are mutually constitutive. Neither exists independently in terms of viability; relational dynamics continuously co-actualise possibilities across this interface.

This perspective reframes classic biological notions: adaptation is not the organism “tracking” a pre-existing environment. Instead, adaptation emerges from the ongoing negotiation of potential between organism and environment. Life is always relational, always co-defining its context.

Within this horizon, value remains the guiding principle:

• Each modulation of potential preserves or expands systemic viability.

• Actions and responses are contingent, context-sensitive, and non-representational.

• Semiotic meaning has not yet emerged; these are value-driven relational dynamics.

Viewing organisms as horizons clarifies why traditional metaphors — computation, coding, signaling — fail. They suggest isolated units processing pre-given inputs, rather than fields negotiating constraints and possibilities. Recognising the horizon restores the relational, emergent, and contingent character of life.