Standing as Dischargeable Referential Capacity

This paper analyzes standing as a dischargeable referential capacity rather than as an accumulated, persistent, or gradable property of agents, theories, or descriptions. It shows that standing is licensed only for specific claims under specific admissible conditions, and that it is expended—discharged—when those conditions are no longer met. Within a closed admissibility framework, standing is not conserved by default through time, success, repetition, or explanatory appeal. Each claim bears its own standing burden, and that burden must be satisfied anew whenever scope, reference, or representational commitments change. When standing is treated as durable capital—something earned once and carried forward—illicit authority transfer occurs, masking standing failure as continuity. The analysis is eliminative. No criteria for earning standing, no procedural tests, and no recovery mechanisms are proposed. Instead, the paper establishes a boundary condition: standing is binary, local, and dischargeable. Once discharged through scope violation, redescription instability, or reference loss, it cannot be repaired, inherited, or amortized. By reclassifying standing as a dischargeable capacity, the paper dissolves confusions across science, philosophy, and governance where legitimacy is presumed to persist independently of admissibility. It closes these confusions by showing that standing does not decay gradually or survive failure—it terminates at the moment admissibility is breached.