The Paton System as a Viability-First Framework for Scientific Explanation

Scientific explanations often break down not because the underlying laws are wrong, but because they are applied outside the conditions where further reasoning remains admissible. This paper introduces the Paton System, a viability-first framework that treats admissibility as a pre-theoretical condition for scientific explanation. Rather than proposing new physical laws or mechanisms, the Paton System formalises a continuation gate that determines whether explanation, prediction, or optimisation may proceed at all. The framework distinguishes correctness, applicability, and viability, arguing that viability is logically prior to dynamical modelling. By making explicit a constraint that is typically applied implicitly across science and engineering, the Paton System clarifies scope limits, breakdown conditions, and stability while remaining fully compatible with existing theories across domains.