Actualitytheses

Actualitytheses is a term used in contemporary philosophy to describe a family of claims about the primacy of actuality in understanding reality. Proponents argue that actualities—what is instantiated or realized in concrete situations—are the fundamental mode of being, more formative than potentialities or dispositional properties. The term encompasses several theses, including that actuality is context-dependent, emergent from causal interactions, and that facts about the world are best analyzed in terms of actualized states and processes rather than bare possibilities.

Origins and scope: The phrase emerged within debates on metaphysics, temporal ontology, and the philosophy of science, drawing on processual and speculative realist traditions. While diverse in detail, most actualitytheses share a commitment to primacy of actualization and a rejection of reducing reality to potentialities alone.

Core theses: Actuality as primacy holds that actuality constitutes the basic modal category. Relational actualization posits that actuality arises from relations among entities. Dynamic becoming suggests that actuality is realized through ongoing processes rather than fixed essences. Context sensitivity claims that what counts as actual depends on epistemic and pragmatic contexts. Compatibility with science argues that actualities provide a workable bridge between descriptive models and ontological commitments.

Variants and debates: Some defenders articulate strong actuality theses, insisting on a non-reductive ontology, while critics diagnose ambiguities, especially around the boundary between potential and actual. Debates connect to Aristotle's hylomorphism, Whitehead's process philosophy, and contemporary modal realism.

Applications: If developed, actualitytheses could influence metaphysical models, philosophy of science, and cognitive science by foregrounding dynamic, context-sensitive actualities in explanations of change and state realization.

See also: Actuality, Potentiality, Process philosophy, Metaphysics, Modal logic.