Ontology of Play – Conceptual Framework
The following concepts form the core vocabulary of the Ontology of Play.
They are not independent definitions, but interrelated elements of a process-based account of reality. Together they describe how interaction gives rise to constraints, how constraints enable the stabilization of structures and objects, and how new possibilities emerge within an open-ended processual world.
The structure below follows the internal logic of the theory: from dynamic interaction, through constraint and stabilization, to possibility, novelty, and the emergence of increasingly integrated forms of organization.
Conceptual Map
This map visualizes the relational structure of the Ontology of Play, from foundational processes to the emergence of objects, meaning, and selfhood.
Foundations
The concepts in this section describe the fundamental processual conditions from which all higher-order forms emerge.
Structuring
These concepts describe how recurring interactions generate stability, organization, and relatively enduring forms.
Possibility
These concepts address the openness of process and the space of potential transformations.
Novelty
These concepts describe how genuinely new forms, organizations, and patterns emerge.
Integration
These concepts address the emergence of increasingly complex and reflexive forms of organization.