Changeexistence

Changeexistence is a philosophical concept describing the view that existence is tied to change and process. In this framework, to exist is to participate in a history of states or transformations; static persistence is secondary to ongoing becoming.

The term is not widely standardized; it has appeared in discussions of process philosophy and in analyses of persistence across time. It is often used to contrast with views that treat existence as a fixed set of properties at a given instant.

In metaphysics, changeexistence is related to debates about persistence over time, identity criteria, and the nature of states. Some proponents imply that an object's identity is constituted by the network of changes it undergoes; others say existence is the continuous potential for new states. It may be aligned with process-relational ontologies and Heraclitean motifs.

In the philosophy of time, changeexistence informs how we model dynamic systems and causation. In logic and computer science, it can underlie process algebras and stateful computations where existence corresponds to ongoing transitions rather than static properties.

Critics argue that the notion risks vagueness and undermining object permanence. It can pose problems for how to define sameness through change and for empirical applicability.

Related topics include persistence, identity over time, process philosophy, Heraclitus, evolution, and dynamic systems.