Kasei Theory II: Life Before Definition — Constraint, Retention, and Post-Positional Surfacing

Abstract The volume does not ask what life is, but how life becomes readable at all.Its contribution is to relocate the problem of life from definition to pre-definitional readability. This work constitutes Volume II of Kasei-Theory and addresses “life” not as a biological entity but as a post-positional phenomenon that becomes readable only after the world has already been partially structured for reading. Rather than defining life, the volume analyzes the structural conditions under which life becomes readable, without presupposing biological categories. Scope The analysis concerns the pre-definitional regime of life, in which retention, delay, and history-constraint appear without being converted into biological notions such as memory, adaptation, or purpose. These constraints are treated as world-side conditions prior to their translation into biological discourse. Life is neither assumed nor defined; instead, the volume examines the reduction of translation from world-language into life-language. Contribution The volume introduces the conceptual framework of post-positional surfacing and establishes three weak constraints—retentive drift, delay, and history-constraint—as non-biological precursors for readability. The aim is not to define life but to explain why life can be defined at all, and why attempts to define life continually fail. Status This manuscript represents a working release of Volume II. Kasei-Theory is a multi-volume framework, and the present volume remains structurally open pending integration with Volume III (Dec-Reading). Subsequent revisions may refine terminology and notation without altering the core propositions.