The CLP Law of Verifiable Knowledge : A Universal Structure for Validating Human and AI Knowledge

This paper proposes the **CLP Law of Verifiable Knowledge**, a general framework for distinguishing between *knowledge* and *mere belief or conjecture*. According to the law, a claim qualifies as knowledge only when it achieves closure across three layers: Conceptual (C), where hypotheses or models are formed; Logical (L), where these are organized into rules or theories; and Physical (P), where they are validated against experience or empirical reality. Claims that fail to complete this cycle remain as provisional *knowledge-candidates*. The framework thereby offers a simple but universal principle: knowledge begins where concepts and logic meet acceptable reality. The law is falsifiable: either by showing that knowledge can exist without one of the layers, or by demonstrating that full closure yields results that are not recognized as knowledge. Case studies—from the anomalous orbit of Mercury to the problem of hallucinations in AI systems—illustrate how the CLP framework classifies knowledge and demarcates it from speculation. The proposal is situated at the intersection of epistemology and the philosophy of artificial intelligence, aiming to provide a unified account of verifiable knowledge across human inquiry and computational systems.