The Algebra of Construal: 1 The Primacy of Construal

To understand relational ontology, one must begin with the inescapable fact: phenomena are always mediated. They are never “raw,” never free of perspective, never unconstrued. This is the principle of construal, and it is the generative heart of meaning itself.

Construal is not a lens through which reality is observed—it is the very act by which phenomena come into being as meaningful. Every instance, every emergent event, is an actualisation of potential through a perspectival cut. To ignore this is to mistake the output for the operator: to treat meaning as a static product rather than a dynamic process.

Construal as Foundational Principle

The early stages of relational ontology foreground construal precisely because it establishes a new relation between potentiality and actuality:

• Systems define structured potentials, the space of what might be.

• Instances are perspectival actualisations of those potentials.

• Construal is the active operation that bridges the two: it is the generator of first-order meaning.

This triad is irreducible. Systems without construal remain inert; instances without construal lack coherence; construal without potential or perspective is void. Meaning emerges only at the intersection of these three.

Implications for Thought

Recognising construal as primary reshapes our epistemic stance. Knowledge is no longer the passive reception of pre-existing entities. Instead, understanding is an engagement with emergent phenomena, always already mediated by perspective. To know is to participate in the act of actualisation.

Moreover, construal reveals the relational nature of reality itself: any phenomenon is only intelligible within the network of other phenomena and the perspectives through which they are construed. There is no neutral vantage; there is only situated emergence.

A Preview of the Series

This episode establishes construal as a dynamic operator. Subsequent episodes will:

1. Formalise construal as a transformative process.

2. Explore the interaction of multiple construals, and how they generate emergent meanings.

3. Extend these insights toward a multi-perspectival epistemology, where the relational ontology provides a formal scaffold for reasoning across non-commensurable perspectives.

4. Outline the beginnings of an algebra of construal, offering a pathway toward formalisation and application.

Construal is the engine. Meaning is its output. By following its operations, we begin to see not only how phenomena arise, but how knowledge, interpretation, and possibility themselves are generated. The algebra of construal will chart this engine in motion.