Foundations of Intelligibility: Structural Preconditions for Coherent System Description

This paper derives the minimal structural conditions required for coherent system description under persistence and change. Beginning from a single non-ontological commitment—that distinguishability can persist—the paper shows that any theory admitting persistence must distinguish between a reversible, pre-commitment regime and an irreversible commitment regime. From this distinction follows the structural necessity of probabilistic state-space formalisms prior to commitment, without proposing a physical theory, altering existing formalisms, or making empirical claims. The derivation stops deliberately at the point where quantification becomes necessary, specifying an intelligibility floor rather than a complete theory.