Ontology & Metaphysics

Reflection-Logical Ontology: Being as Structure

Being as a reflexive relational framework

The ontological dimensions in their dialectical interweaving

Reflexive philosophy develops an ontology that does not start from isolated substances or static categories but from reflexive relational structures. “Being” is not determined as an abstract principle but is disclosed from the concrete structure of reflection itself. This reflection-logical ontology overcomes both materialism and idealism by conceiving being as a differentiated unity of the four meaning elements (object, subject, dialogue, medium).

“Being” as the Centre of the Framework of Meaning Elements

The concept “being” is understood by Heinrichs not as the most comprehensive principle or highest abstraction (as is often the case in metaphysics) but as the centre of the framework of meaning elements. It is the actuality of performance, the concrete event in which the four elements come together and constitute reality. Being is the dynamic convergence of the elements in a concrete act of meaning.

“Being is the centre of the framework of meaning elements. It is the actual convergence of the elements, the event of coming together, not a ‘highest’ or ‘most comprehensive’ principle.”

The Dialectic of Object and Subject

Objectivity as a Relational Category

A central insight of reflexive philosophy is: “Objectivity only has meaning in relation to subjectivity.” This does not mean that the object is merely subjectively “constructed” but that the object category only acquires its meaning within the relational framework of the other meaning elements. The most intense pursuit of objectivity paradoxically leads into its subjective presuppositions, as demonstrated in Heisenberg’s uncertainty relations.

The Contradictory Dialectic: Part and Not-Part of Nature

A fundamental example of ontological dialectic is the relationship of the human being to nature:

1. Thesis: The human being, with their bodily nature, is part of nature.
2. Antithesis: Through their self-consciousness, the human being stands outside nature.

This is a contradictory dialectic of “on the one hand — on the other” that cannot be resolved in a synthesis. The human being is entirely a natural being — and entirely not. This paradoxical structure is not a logical error but an expression of the reflexive constitution of the human being itself.

The Body-Soul Relationship: Interpenetration Dialectic

The most immediate object reference is the experience of the belonging of bodily-material “objects” to one’s own self. This interpenetration or mutual permeation of the principles of body, soul, and spirit leads to a differentiated ontological structure (see Body — Soul — Spirit).

Natural Dialectic and Natural-Scientific Reflection

Reflexive philosophy opens the view to dialectical structures in nature itself. The physicist Peter Plichta discovered a reversal dialectic of space and mass as well as of time and energy. David Bohm uses the concepts “implicate” and “explicate” similarly to Heinrichs and transfers them to the implicate and explicate in matter. These developments show that nature itself exhibits consciousness-analogous structures.

The Dialectic of the Medium of Meaning: Positing and Presupposition

The medium of meaning is characterised by a counter-movement dialectic of positing and presupposition: it is both a positing of the I and the participating individuals and at the same time a presupposition of the individual capacities and contributions.

This structure enables a reflection-logical correction of the “ontological argument for God”: the capacity to think the infinite proves a decisive constitution of being of the cognising human — their participation in infinity.

The Question of Immortality and Reincarnation

From the reflection-logical structure of self-consciousness, an important ontological consequence follows: a being that is capable of fully relating to itself cannot simply perish in its core. Reflection logic grounds the principled imperishability of the reflexive core of the person.

Summary: Ontology as Reflexive Structural Hermeneutics

The ontology of reflexive philosophy is not a doctrine of isolated substances or abstract categories but a structural hermeneutics that discloses being from the concrete framework of meaning elements. It overcomes traditional dualisms and reductionisms by demonstrating the differentiated unity of the various regions of being.

Further Reading

All mentioned works are available from Reflexivity Press.

• Dialectic as Reflection Logic — Johannes Heinrichs
• Hegel’s Science of Logic — Kai Froeb