A Three-Axis Framework for Modelling Emergence, Agency, and Constraint in Complex Systems

Read full text
Authors: Joel Summerfield
Cited by: 0
References: 3

Abstract

This preprint presents a non-empirical, cross-disciplinary conceptual framework for modeling emergence, agency, and ethical constraint in complex systems. The proposed Three-Axis Framework integrates spatial possibility structures, temporal emergence cycles, and autonomous agency into a unified model intended to provide explanatory coherence across philosophy, systems theory, cognitive science, ethics, political theory, economics, and information theory. The framework does not advance new physical laws or empirical claims. Instead, it operates at a meta-theoretical level, using axiomatic reasoning and domain-specific stress testing to examine how meaning, identity, and ethical responsibility emerge within constrained possibility spaces. Particular attention is given to the preservation of agency through a non-collapse ethical constraint and to the role of transience and neutrality in human meaning-making. This work is intended as an open conceptual contribution, inviting critique, refinement, and interdisciplinary dialogue rather than doctrinal adoption.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Embodied and Extended Cognition Chaos Complexity and Education Complex Systems and Decision Making

Publication details

Journal / source
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Publication date
6 January 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint