Fitra as a Prelinguistic Ontological Orientation: The Limits of Evolutionary Accounts of Human Meaning

Contemporary evolutionary and cognitive sciences provide powerful explanations of biological adaptation and early cognitive competencies, yet they face persistent difficulties in accounting for the normative and meaning-oriented structure of human reason. Empirical research employing the Violation of Expectation (VOE) paradigm demonstrates that preverbal infants possess robust expectations regarding object permanence, causality, continuity, and order. These findings do not constitute empirical evidence for the concept of fitra, but serve as a heuristic point of departure that motivates a broader philosophical interpretation. This paper introduces fitra as a philosophical construct: an innate, prelinguistic, and pre-cultural ontological orientation of human consciousness toward order, coherence, and potential meaning. Fitra is not proposed as an empirical hypothesis, but as an interpretive framework that generalizes core knowledge research and accounts for the emergence of language, culture, normativity, and existential tension. It is argued that cultural evolution unfolds within a normative space opened by fitra and may at times conflict with biological fitness.