Physics is often presented as the study of things: particles, fields, forces, and spacetime itself. We are told these entities exist independently, awaiting discovery. But relational ontology offers a radically different reading: physical systems do not exist as pre-given objects. Instead, they are horizons of possibility structured by constraints, actualised through perspectival cuts.
This post inaugurates Perspectival Physics by stripping physics down to its relational foundations.
Objects as Conceptual Shortcuts
Consider a particle. Classical intuition treats it as an independent entity: it moves through space, interacts with other particles, and obeys deterministic laws. Yet the more we probe — quantum mechanics, field theory, measurement problems — the less tenable this picture becomes.
From a relational perspective:
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The “particle” is a stable pattern of constraints actualised in measurement interactions, not an independently existing thing.
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Its properties — position, momentum, spin — exist relative to the horizon of observation.
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When we think we are observing a particle, we are witnessing a relational cut actualising a particular possibility.
Objects are therefore practical fictions: shortcuts that allow us to describe patterns in relational fields without implying ontological independence.
Horizons of Possibility in Physics
If objects are fictions, what exists? Horizons of possibility.
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A horizon is a relational field: a space of potential actualisations constrained by laws, interactions, and previous instantiations.
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Physical phenomena emerge only when a relational cut is made — for instance, a measurement, an interaction, or a boundary condition.
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What appears as a stable “thing” is a temporarily crystallised cut in this horizon.
Thus, the focus of physics shifts from entities to the structure and actualisation of possibilities.
Fields and Forces as Relational Patterns
Classical fields — gravitational, electromagnetic, or otherwise — are often treated as substances filling space. Relationally:
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Fields are structured possibilities, not material media.
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Forces are expressions of relational constraints, not intrinsic pushes or pulls.
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Interactions are actualisations of possible relational configurations, realised only when cuts are made.
This perspective preserves the predictive power of physics while removing the metaphysical baggage of objects-as-things.
Measurement as Cut
In quantum mechanics, the role of measurement becomes transparent under relational ontology:
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A quantum system is a horizon of possible outcomes.
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A measurement is a perspectival cut, stabilising one possibility relative to the measuring context.
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The “collapse” of the wavefunction is not an ontological event in a pre-existing reality; it is the actualisation of a cut in a relational field.
What seems paradoxical under traditional interpretations — superposition, entanglement, indeterminacy — is natural when we replace objects with horizons and cuts.
Laws as Constraints
If there are no objects, what about physical laws?
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Laws are regularities of relational constraints, not instructions imposed on entities.
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Conservation laws, symmetries, and invariants describe patterns of possibility, not fixed behaviours of independent things.
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Predictive success arises because constraints guide which cuts can stabilise and repeat; they do not imply pre-existing objects obeying immutable rules.
Physics, then, becomes the study of structured possibility actualised perspectivally, not a catalogue of independent entities.
Implications
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Eliminates metaphysical baggage: We no longer need to assume the independent existence of particles or fields.
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Clarifies measurement and observation: Apparent paradoxes dissolve when seen as relational actualisations.
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Preserves predictive utility: Relational cuts retain all empirical content; we do not sacrifice accuracy.
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Opens new conceptual space: Horizons of possibility can be applied analogically across semiotic, biological, and physical domains.
Conclusion
Physics Without Objects reframes the very foundations of physics:
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Objects are not discovered; they are stabilised relational patterns.
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Fields, forces, and measurements are cuts in structured possibility, intelligible only relationally.
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Laws describe constraints on possibility, not immutable behaviours of independently existing entities.
Relational ontology transforms physics into the study of actualised horizons, a domain continuous with semiotic and mathematical emergence.
In the next post, “Entanglement as Co-Individuation”, we will see how relational cuts explain correlations between systems, offering a radically transparent reading of phenomena traditionally described as “spooky” or counterintuitive.
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