The Five Dimensions (5D) Metatheory: A Metatheory for the 21st Century

This paper introduces a non-normative, non-hierarchical metatheory organized around five irreducible and interacting dimensions: ontology, epistemology, axiology, praxis, and telos. Existing metatheories often conflate these dimensions, embed hidden normative commitments, or lack reflexive capacity. In contrast, the proposed framework provides an open analytical architecture capable of examining theories, metatheories, paradigms, institutions, and ideologies without imposing predetermined assumptions. The metatheory emerged through a hybrid human–AI co-reasoning process involving cyclical and dialectical refinement, adversarial testing, and multimodel triangulation, which revealed structural blind spots and supported iterative conceptual development. Applications demonstrate the model’s diagnostic and generative power across diverse domains, including the collapse of communism, the persistence of capitalism, failures of organizational change, assessment of transdisciplinary work, and adult development. The metatheory also applies reflexively to itself, addressing a longstanding limitation in integrative frameworks. By offering a rigorous dimensional grammar and a scalable reflexive scaffold, this metatheory enhances conceptual clarity, supports cross-paradigmatic translation, and provides a foundation for designing coherent theories and transformative practices suited to contemporary complexity. Citation DOI: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.17913952.