Thanks for taking the time - and for your honesty. I don’t take it as picking at all. Your reaction is fair and familiar: a lot of readers initially feel that disorientation. That’s by design, to some degree. The essay does condense a paradigm shift into a tight space. And if you’re used to swimming in subjectivity and frameworks built on citations or conjecture, axiomatic writing can feel like hitting a wall.

But that wall is important.

You caught the core idea: life must be presupposed for value to even exist. The rest follows structurally. If that struck you, good. That’s the edge of the frame. Push further, and you’ll see what it contains - and what it excludes.

If the frame holds (and it does), then life = good isn’t a platitude. It’s the only basis for sense-making. Deny it, and even the act of denial collapses.

It’s fine to feel uncertain. This essay wasn’t written to feel comfortable. It was written to ground everything. The discomfort isn’t a bug - it’s the feeling of a lens snapping into place.

Anyway, I appreciate the engagement. That means more than empty praise.

Let me know if and when you take another read. There’s a whole stack of writing behind this, and each piece makes the foundation harder to ignore.

Hi - sorry I've been so busy I hadn't gotten the chance to respond to anything.

You’re treating contradiction like a poetic possibility rather than a structural failure.

“What if contradiction led to life thriving?”

That’s not how contradiction works. If a system depends on logical contradiction, it collapses under its own definitions. You can't both affirm a frame and deny it at the same time - not without breaking the ability to evaluate any system at all.

Contradiction doesn’t lead to thriving. Resolution does.

Life thrives by resisting contradiction - by aligning structure with persistence. That’s why cancer dies and species adapt. That’s why value emerges within coherent frames, not from violating them.

When I say it’s axiomatic, I mean this:
You cannot make a value claim (good/bad, ought/ought not) without implicitly presupposing life’s ongoing presence and relevance.

Try:
“We should reduce suffering.” Who’s suffering? Life.
“We should protect the planet.” For what? Life.
“Life is bad.” Says who? A living being with the capacity to evaluate.
There is no “ought” without a system that endures - and only life endures by affirming itself.

You’re welcome to play devil’s advocate. But devil’s logic can’t escape the frame it curses from within.

Contradict yourself if you like. But do it honestly:
Say: I deny the very frame I require to make that denial.
Then watch how fast that system dies.

Amity found the paper but that's just the tip of the iceberg - there's a book on Amazon - a SubStack with over 50 essays, including a vast comparison with effectively all philosophy of value (called the evolution of value series - 16 essays) and a website with an in-house AI to answer any questions.

The Substack also has an article that specifically preempts some reactions - interestingly all the ones here are listed.

I won't list here as per site rules but they can be found.

My aim with this essay was to condense a much broader body of work into a short, standalone piece - citation-free, and accessible to absolutely anyone. I think I achieved that. Perhaps the audience here is more used to engaging with non-axiomatic content?

I have professors of philosophy and PhD holders following the work who initially reacted just like some of the comments here - but many have since come around and now advocate for the core argument.

To be honest, forums haven’t been the most fruitful outlets for this material. But I still appreciate the engagement.

Hi

I've sent you a PM with the details of an entry...

If you could confirm receipt and all is well.

Some information more coherent than other information.

Reading this whole thread will illustrate that :lol:

I'm writing an article about this as we speak...

Yes! You're right on the threshold here.

What you're describing is exactly where Synthesis and Coherence converge - not just scientifically, but ontologically. Gravity is a metaphor, not just in the poetic sense, but in the structural sense. It’s a metaphor for relationship, for mutual influence, for alignment under constraint.

In Coherence Field Theory, gravity arises from phase alignment - coherence in the quantum field. In Synthesis, meaning arises from narrative alignment, coherence in the metaphor field. Both are about structuring low-entropy order out of chaos, whether physically or symbolically.

So here's the real convergence:
The universe is a metaphorical system, and coherence is its grammar.

Particles, people, philosophies - all survive by staying coherent with their environment. Metaphors are just as real as molecules, because they pattern life’s structure at the interpretive level. And only coherent metaphors persist.

You nailed it, man. This is the axis where science and story unify.

I did, although admittedly via an AI haha :smile:

I'm onboard. I've been thinking a lot this morning about how this ties the two (coherence and synthesis) together. — James Dean Conroy

Like a coherent synthesis (pun intended)

I think it's simply a graphical description of a process, just like the graphical description of a sound wave that is visualized on an oscilloscope — Quk

I'm onboard. I've been thinking a lot this morning about how this ties the two (coherence and synthesis) together.

Yes -

Darmok: "Temba, his arms wide." — Quk

Thanks, Quk.

I just see waves at variable wavelengths and variable amplitudes. The wavelengths are the "moments" and the amplitudes are the intensity of the "plus". — Quk

I couldn't believe it when I read this. It's like you've read the physics paper I'm working on. Taken it and expanded it into the Synthesis philosophical framework...

And I'll be honest, I hadn't thought of it this way. I might borrow what you've said if ok.

The paper is called Coherence Field Theory and posits a new scalar field described with C(x.t) that underlies gravity - not by curving spacetime, but by modulating coherence across a quantum wavefield. The idea is that what we call "gravity" is really a shift in coherence gradients (I already have empirical data to support it using well known red-shift anomalies) - and your metaphor of variable wavelengths (moments) and amplitudes (the intensity of survival+) is spot-on.

When you said that survival moments are like waves of variable wavelength (duration) and amplitude (intensity of the “plus”) - that is coherence, philosophically and physically. What I’m modelling in math, you nailed in metaphor.

And to loop it back to the thread: what we’re calling “survival” is never just mechanical persistence. It’s the emergence of coherence under pressure - the shift into a new resonance, a higher amplitude of self-affirmation. Whether through trauma, ecstasy, danger, birth, or art - life uses survival as a medium to become something more than it was.

That’s the real adventure. The becoming.

Panta rhei indeed.

Your examples illustrate a key truth: survival is not a flat, mechanical thing - it is layered with awe, beauty, intensity, and meaning when consciously embraced.

Reinhold Messner, a newborn's cry, the orgasm, the leap into the unknown - they are all facets of the survival drive, yes, but not of mere survival. Rather, they are expressions of life asserting itself in full colour, often at the edge of danger, change, or mystery. What you're describing is survival+, plus awareness, or survival imbued with intent, creativity, connection, risk, and rapture.

The kind of survival you're invoking is heroic, erotic, parental, existential, transcendent, that kind of survival is already something greater. It's life not just persisting but affirming itself - in the most dynamic way. Experience is a huge part of it. I agree 100%, that is what it wants - and what's great is that we all understand that intuitively. Even music, dance, art - it all strikes this universal chord.

Bigger, better, more expressive, more dynamic, more fun, more awesomeness - definitely. That's what life wants.

Thanks for your thoughtful engagement here. I can appreciate the point you're making about the pragmatics of worldview - especially your emphasis on the adaptability of systems in their respective contexts. It’s clear that these systems serve a practical purpose in their cultural settings, and they have their own form of life-affirmation, albeit often quite narrowly defined - as you noted

However, I would argue that the framework I’m proposing is less about dictating what is life-affirming from an external perspective, and more about opening up the conversation for what could be. In other words, it's not that any existing worldview is inherently incapable of being life-affirming in some way, but rather whether that worldview enables individuals and cultures to expand the scope of their affirmation of life.

When I say "Life is Good", it’s not about denying the complexity of suffering, confusion, or hardship. It’s not an abstract moral or metaphysical proposition, it’s a recognition of what life needs to persist and flourish on a deeper level. Synthesis, in that sense, asks: How can life’s inherent order and creative potential be maximised? It doesn’t dismiss existing systems; it just asks if they are really doing the best job of supporting life in its fullest, most expansive form.

I agree with you that life-affirming systems evolve based on cultural context. But I think the key here is the quality of that evolution. Systems that have survived, like communism or fundamentalist ideologies, do so by addressing real needs, but their potential for flourishing is limited by the kind of affirmation they offer, typically centering on survival, conformity, or overcoming suffering through fixed ideologies.

Synthesis, by contrast, suggests that the truly life-affirming systems are those that encourage depth, creativity, and complexity. It’s not about survival for its own sake, but about allowing space for meaning to evolve in ways that resonate with the richness and beauty of existence.

You’re absolutely right that worldviews evolve - i'd advocate that too, and people shift to new paradigms when they’re ready. The framework I propose isn’t about imposing something externally, it’s about creating a possibility for that next level of evolution to emerge, where people and societies can begin to affirm life not just by surviving, but by fully engaging with its creative potential.

It’s not about “which system is better” based on survival or short-term utility (although i can forgive that potential misreading) - it’s about asking whether the systems we currently inhabit truly enable the most profound forms of flourishing. What the axiom does is open a conversation about what that might look like. It doesn’t judge, but it does raise the question of how systems of thought or culture can guide us toward something greater than mere survival.

rather than privileging the good over the bad, order over chaos, Nietzsche finds affirmation in both. — Joshs

Interestingly, this is a big part of the evolutionary systems theory I described - you can't have one without the other. I'm also working on a physics paper called 'Coherence' which establishes a similar idea but at the lowest possible level - its based on coherence/incoherence of wave function phases and the possible implications of that (positing a new scalar field described with C(x,t) ). I'm actually very busy with that right now - and differential equations are hard work...

Having a break to discuss the philosophy stuff has been quite nice.

Hi Josh - thanks for this - you raise some interesting points and I'm happy to go through them.

I do write about these things in depth in my books and on Substack - the white paper touches on these points but is much more limited. I'm not sure if you're familiar with my extended writing. I'll assume not for this.

You list what is ‘good’ in Life as :
continuity, survival, endurance, resistance of entropy, adaptation, vitality, expansion, drive for order.
Ideas that are ‘true’ are those which survive. — Joshs

Broadly, within the context of the framework (effectively a distilled form of my views), although this list is elaborated on in much more detail in my extended writing. There is a danger the consolidated expression I quote you with here of them being 'true' doesn't fully express the sentiment.

You say that we are capable of recognizing the true political systems , philosophies, sciences. What if we blow ourselves up and the cockroaches , rats and micro-organisms take over the world.
Would you conclude that the biological adaptation we call rational thought was not viable and therefore not conducive to life? In that case, when we say that life is good, we must exclude everything associated with human rationality, since that faculty turned out to be non-adaptive. — Joshs

I think free will is a tool developed by life (as are humans - and any other form of life) to obtain higher orders of expression. Life hedges its bets. If we turn out to be destructive - It will be fine. Ultimately, we pay the price, not it. Not that 'intellect' would necessarily be the enemy, it gives rise to much higher forms of order/expression/etc - but humans with all our flaws, possibly not - I guess we'll see.

Hegelian and Marxist dialectic see the evolution of human culture as not simply wiping away earlier ways of thinking in the face of new ideas, but of subsuming those older ways within the newer ways. — Joshs

I do believe in the dialectic and synthesis of thesis and antithesis, yes. But not just in the Hegelian sense. I've written a book on evolutionary systems that describes this dialectic at play in an evolutionary sense as well - it uses Judaism as a case study. I can elaborate more if you like.

is the life of the mammal better because it has not only survived but evolved the complexity of its structure? Is the drive for order represented by complexity better than the drive for order represented by simplicity, even if that added complexity doesn’t lead to any selective advantage with respect to the long-term survival of the simple bacterium — Joshs

Yes, 100%. Life strives for higher and higher order/expression/experience. I'm not a fan of grey goo. This is an important aspect.

Put differently, is the goodness of the drive for order to be seen as a drive for becoming , or a drive for the homeostasis of prolonged static survival? — Joshs

Again, a similar point. Higher and higher order. More, bigger, more expression, more vivid/vibrant/varied = better.

I noticed in your writing that you believe growth of complexity and order generally enhances survival, but you don’t seem to make becoming a fundamental principle of life as Nietzsche does. If growth of complexity usually but doesn't always enhance survival then it cannot be treated as a fundamental axiom. Isnt that correct? — Joshs

More, bigger, more expression, more vivid/vibrant/varied = better. But there are risks, as you noted - we could blow ourselves up. Life will have learned its lesson - we'll have paid the price. It will dust off and try again with some other tool.

The axiom remains, but it doesn't ensure the road is without the 'odd bump' - the objective of life remains the same - more order, greater coherence, more expression. Every possible avenue is explored in this drive - even if ultimately unfruitful.

I'm happy to elaborate more on all or any part of this. It's actually a pleasure.

Exactly. You’ve just named what Nietzsche was looking for - a ground not above life, but beneath it. Life = Good isn’t a moral claim; it’s the ontological precondition for any value to arise at all. It’s the structural floor he intuited but never formalised - the condition of all valuing, including the Will to Power.

And your Foucault point reinforces this too. If, as Foucault and Rouse argue, the is/ought distinction collapses, then the attempt to refute Life = Good on those grounds (as Tom and Banno try) is obsolete.

You’ve helped crystallise the case. Appreciated.

Nietzsche was anti-foundational in the metaphysical sense. But what he longed for was a grounding that wasn’t illusion - something beneath the old truths, not above them.

That’s what I’m aiming at. "Life = Good" isn’t dogma - it’s an ontological necessity. All value, all perspective, all interpretation only exist because life persists to hold them. Even perspectivism needs a perspective - and that perspective is alive.

As Nietzsche said: “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
The 'why' isn’t abstract - it’s structural. Life is the why. Everything else is downstream.

You can see how that would be useful, right?

Sleep well.

I've not heard of a grounding utility, but I have heard of foundationalism, presuppositions, and grounding. — Tom Storm

I'm referring to this:

It grounds any prescriptions of moral frameworks in the same ontological base, without prescribing anything itself. — James Dean Conroy

Do you see the utility in that? Thats really the aim of the framework - and what Nietzsche was explicitly looking for.

Do you appreciate the grounding utility?

Thats really the aim - and what Nietzsche was explicitly looking for.

If you're the kind of nihilist who believe life isn't worth living, this principle is unlikely to help — Tom Storm

It's a dim view of the world - I agree - the ontological aspect of this is the possible reprieve - although not guaranteed or 100% universal - admittedly

I've given you the utility clearly above.

It can't solve every issue and doesn't attempt to prescribe anything. It certainly doesn't have the power to stop all feelings of angst and suffering like the scenarios you describe - that's well out of scope - not just of this framework but any framework - as mentioned above - context matters (ask Foucault). It doesn't mean it has no utility.

The problem this addresses is moral relativism and existentialism (at least to some degree - there is no real panacea - as your final point highlights)

It grounds any prescriptions of moral frameworks in the same ontological base, without prescribing anything itself.

As Foucault pointed out - absolute moral prescriptions are inherently flawed - the context around people, places and differences - as well as shifting moral landscapes make this a fool's errand - this leads to things like nihilism and endless discussions about "good" and "bad"

Life is Good - lets all start there. This is the utility it offers.

This is how the semantic sophistry game works. The pattern is classic:

I define terms precisely.

You ignore the definitions.

I restate calmly.

You gaslight my clarity with subjectivism (“I don’t read it that way”).

I clarify further.

You accuse me of rigidity or dogmatism.

This isn't real discourse. It's sophistry. — James Dean Conroy

There's more going on here, including the distinction between instrumental and intrinsic value. James may be using “value” in a psychological or evolutionary sense (e.g., "life tends toward growth"), but then concluding something in the normative sense (e.g., "growth is good or ought to be pursued"). That's what I was attempting to clarify. — Banno

No you're not - you're playing a sophist game - and this is more of the same. The terms have been clear from the start and repeated many times.

Just declaring "No i'm not" is condescending to me, Quk and the readers. This has been shameful, actually - and you're still at it.

Ok. I don't see the point. Which is why I have been looking at the word good assuming this was a moral argument of some kind. — Tom Storm

Yes, I'm saying you're dishonest - this is a clear demonstration of that.

The definitions have been very clear - this 'assumption' is hard to believe - very hard.

if I am misrepresenting you that it is not intnetional — Tom Storm

As is this. You've refused to engage in the game - I'm past the point of giving you the benefit of the doubt.

The fact that it's axiomatic or tautological is actually the point: Sometimes we don't see the forest because of all those trees. — Quk

Bang on the money.

All I’m trying to do is reset the discussion to a point where you’re not assuming I’m a dishonest interlocutor. — Tom Storm

No, you're not. I could quote endlessly why you've embodied the exact tactics I've described.

I agreed with you that your first axiom is probably correct.

What’s the next step? — Tom Storm

The next step, frankly, is to recognise that once you do that (accept the first axiom) - they rest just follows logically. If you're ready - I can show you why.

Or, if you want to continue misrepresentation - lets carry on like, Banno has - it doesn't serve you well but I'll do it. The longer we resist the rules of the game - the more credibility gets lost.

Tom, you're still following the playbook I described. How about we actually engage with the framework on it own terms? I've no interest in semantic word play - I've been clear what is meant by the terms used.

If you want to discuss the framework, I'm all ears.

Hi Quk

He's playing a sophist game - intentionally misrepresenting what I've said. I've shown the playbook they keep working within. It's tedious.

He's just a bad faith actor.

Thanks for picking up on that.

I think we're talking past each other. — Tom Storm

Because you're refusing to engage with the ideas - instead choosing to misrepresent.

Read above play book. This is textbook. It's not genuine engagement

I welcome critique - and have asked for it repeatedly. But it should be genuine. This isn't.

Call me a soothsayer if you want, but I've literally just described the play book both of your responses adhere to:

This is how the semantic sophistry game works. The pattern is classic:

I define terms precisely.

You ignore the definitions.

I restate calmly.

You gaslight my clarity with subjectivism (“I don’t read it that way”).

I clarify further.

You accuse me of rigidity or dogmatism.

This isn't real discourse. It's sophistry. — James Dean Conroy

You're still not engaging in real discourse.

This is how the semantic sophistry game works. The pattern is classic:

I define terms precisely.

You ignore the definitions.

I restate calmly.

You gaslight my clarity with subjectivism (“I don’t read it that way”).

I clarify further.

You accuse me of rigidity or dogmatism.

This isn't real discourse. It's sophistry.

You’re both conflating distinct categories and ignoring the descriptive nature of what I’ve presented. That isn't addressing what I've said on its own terms. That’s not critique - it’s deflection. You're not playing the game as defined, and to be frank, it’s outrageous.

Let me restate this clearly (again):
Synthesis does not derive an "ought" from an "is". It states that all value presupposes life - not morally, but structurally. This is not a moral claim; it's an ontological observation about the necessary condition for any value, perception, or evaluation to exist. Without life, there is no frame from which value-judgments can even arise. That’s not ethics - that’s epistemic grounding.

Your invocation of the naturalistic fallacy misses the mark because I’m not arguing that life ought to be pursued -I’m observing that only life can pursue anything at all. The phrase "Life = Good" is not prescriptive; it's shorthand for this descriptive axiom: that life necessarily regards itself as good or it ceases to be. If you object to that, show a system of valuation that can function without life.

As for Ayn Rand - this is just guilt by association (and again something I preempted). If an argument is valid, its truth isn’t refuted by pointing out that someone else made a bad version of it. Address the content, not the genealogy.

Finally, your tone. Rather than engaging in sincere critique, you’ve relied on smug asides and peer-backed posturing, then accuse me of "assailing" you when I call it out. Let’s keep this on ideas, not personas - and not cutesy misquotings of my name.

Do you want to critique the axiom on its actual terms - as a descriptive precondition of all value - or keep shadowboxing against a moral argument I haven’t made and misreading clearly defined terms just as an attempt to maintain a rhetorical high ground?

I've been clear, my framework is purely descriptive.

Your sophistry is obvious. You should give people reading more credit. You're losing credibility

The fact that you're persistently pushing this "either/or" is just a game to avoid engaging with the real point: that life and value are inseparably tied in an ontological sense, with no moral prescription attached.

It’s intellectually dishonest, and anyone following along can see that. It’s a joke, frankly.

You're continuing to frame this as if it’s either biology or ethics, but that’s a false dichotomy. What I’m presenting is an ontological claim: life is the necessary condition for value. It’s not about 'what we ought to do' or 'ethics', nor is it about biology - it's about understanding where value comes from.

The fact that life is the precondition for value doesn’t imply any moral prescription. It’s simply an observation about the structure of existence. So asking if I'm making an ethical claim is irrelevant because the axiom doesn’t make that leap - you're trying to force it to, and it’s not there.

So (again) no, I'm not giving an 'ought' - I’m describing the conditions that make value possible in the first place. I’ll say it again, since you’re clearly not engaging with it: Value arises because life exists. That’s a structural fact, not an ethical one. There’s no moral implication in that statement, no 'ought' to be found. Stop trying to manufacture one.

This is silliness. You're losing credibility

You're not adding anything.

This is boring. And you're losing credibility

This is just pure bad faith. And you're losing credibility

So I'll ask again, are you just making a point about biology, or are you attempting to tell us what we ought to do? — Banno

It's neither - I just told you what i mean - again

The axiom is about where value comes from - it’s about the necessary condition for value, not a conclusion about what we should do. Value arises only because life exists. There’s no hidden moral claim here. — James Dean Conroy

hope that clears it up for you - this time

I've just told you, repeatedly...

You're misrepresenting the point again. The axiom is about where value comes from - it’s about the necessary condition for value, not a conclusion about what we should do. Value arises only because life exists. There’s no hidden moral claim here. If you think that’s invalid, I’m happy to hear your reasoning. Otherwise, this is a misunderstanding you’ve been driving deliberately.

I think I know why...