Ableman's Razor: A Typed Grammar for Ontology Exploration, Configuration Collapse, and Implementation Feedback

A Grammar for Governing Epistemic Authority Ableman’s Razor introduces a minimal grammar for governing how claims acquire authority as they move through reasoning, implementation, and decision-making processes. Rather than proposing a method, ontology, or optimization strategy, it constrains epistemic motion - the conditions under which partial evidence, successful execution, or repeated use are allowed to escalate into claims about correctness, causality, or system guarantees. The framework distinguishes jurisdictional layers (Specification, Configuration, Implementation) and typed epistemic functions (Repair, Refinement, Exploration, Expansion), and exposes a common failure mode: authority laundering, where claims silently migrate across layers without admissible warrant. Ableman’s Razor legitimizes refusal as a first-class epistemic act, treats rollback as a requirement for expansion, and permits Undecidable outcomes where observation cannot support escalation. It is intentionally non-constructive and self-demoting, positioning itself as a governance layer rather than a theory of truth or intelligence. This work is relevant to AI systems, complex software, organizational decision-making, and any domain where success is often mistaken for understanding.