worldsuch

Worldsuch is a term used in philosophy and cognitive science to refer to the global, structure-bearing character of reality that makes the world intelligible to observers and amenable to scientific inquiry. It denotes the idea that there are fundamental features of the world—such as stable causal order, spatiotemporal coherence, and coherent laws—that are accessible to representation, prediction, and manipulation.

Etymology and usage: The word combines "world" with a form of "such" to signal the notion of suchness or the world as such. It emerged in late 20th and early 21st century debates in analytic metaphysics and philosophy of science and has circulated mainly in speculative discussions. There is no single canonical definition; authors typically describe worldsuch as a global condition that makes reliable description possible or a framework within which empirical adequacy is evaluated.

Applications: Proponents use worldsuch to discuss the relation between the world and our theories, to distinguish descriptive accuracy from instrumental usefulness, and to analyze how global constraints shape local generalizations. In cognitive science, worldsuch can be used to frame how perception and reasoning align with the world’s underlying structure, and how researchers assess the fit between models and observed phenomena.

Criticism and alternatives: Critics argue that worldsuch is ill-defined or vague, potentially conflating distinct notions such as world-structure, ontology, or the conditions for successful inquiry. Some scholars propose relating it to existing concepts like the structure of the world or the conditions encoded in logical such-that statements, arguing for greater precision in its use.