Co-Being as an Ontology of Difference Monos, Logos, and Meaning as Potential Difference
Abstract
This paper proposes an ontological model in which the meaning of life is not treated as an anthropocentric goal, value, or justification, but as a dynamic effect of a more fundamental process: the co-being of Monos and Logos. Monos and Logos are interpreted as isomorphic modes of difference-generation, enacted respectively in actual and possible modalities of being. It is argued that Logos, by introducing an excess of forms of difference, ontologically enriches reality rather than merely representing it. On this basis, meaning is redefined not as a teleological end, but as a potential difference between what is actual and what can be otherwise. Human existence is understood as a local node of co-being, in which this potential difference may be sustained, intensified, or collapsed. The paper thereby reframes the question of meaning as an ontological problem concerning the conditions under which being avoids collapse into self-identity and indifference.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
Philosophy
Ethics
and Existentialism
Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Publication details
- Journal / source
- PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation)
- Publication date
- 2 February 2026
- Language
- EN