Crucially, this explanation does not rely on rules, internalised norms, or representations of “ought.”
Obligation emerges from the relational field itself.
The felt force of "ought"
Obligation is experienced as a force — a pull or pressure — but it does not originate in propositional content.
It arises from:
anticipated uptake,
potential sanction,
alignment or misalignment with social and biological pressures.
This is why interpersonal meaning often feels compelling, even when no explicit rule is articulated.
Emergence from interaction
Obligation is not a property of individuals.
It is emergent:
it exists in the field of interaction,
it is produced through repeated construals and responses,
it is maintained by pressure from value systems acting through the interpersonal.
No representation is needed for it to arise.
Constraint without coercion
Although obligation exerts pressure, it is not coercion in the sense of forced compliance.
Actors remain free to act otherwise.
Obligation shapes the horizon of intelligible action, but does not determine any single construal.
This preserves agency while making the felt force of social life intelligible.
Anticipation and self-regulation
Actors learn to anticipate obligation.
They adjust construals to align with likely uptake and to avoid negative sanction.
This anticipation is a form of practice:
responsive,
attentive,
ongoing.
Again, no rules or internalised codes are required.
Misalignment as source of evolution
Even in the presence of obligation, misalignment is inevitable.
Some actors resist, some interpret differently, some fail to anticipate pressures correctly.
These misalignments are productive:
they generate new possibilities,
they test the stability of meaning,
they open spaces for novel construals.
Obligation is not static; it evolves with practice.
Looking ahead
With obligation explicable without representation, we can now turn to a broader domain of tension.
Post 6: Interpersonal Misalignment and Social Tension will explore how value pressures diverge across actors, creating conflict, negotiation, and transformation in the field of interpersonal meaning.
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