The Philosophical Framework of Finite Continuity: An Ontological, Subjective, and Political Architecture

This article presents a systematic reconstruction of the philosophical framework developed by Morteza Niami, grounded in the ontology of finite continuity. The central thesis is that existence is not a trajectory toward a final essence but a finite process that must preserve its capacity for reconfiguration against continuous erosion. The framework is articulated across five hierarchically ordered domains: ontology provides the foundation for the theory of the subject; the theory of the subject explains the conditions of possibility for agency; agency leads to ethics; and ethics provides the foundation for political analysis. A bridging principle is introduced to justify the transition from ontological description to normative prescription: the preservation of agency is not justified by an independently chosen value; rather, any attempt to justify, reject, choose, or revise a value already presupposes a minimally preserved capacity for agency. Agency is therefore a practical condition of normative discourse itself. Politically, the framework formulates the concept of erosive governance and establishes the principle of non-appropriation of the future—defined as the prohibition against irreversibly foreclosing the structural conditions required for meaningful future reconfiguration. A comparative criterion of reconfigurative preservation is introduced to operationalize the principle of conditional radicalism, specifying three comparative criteria: the extent of reconfigurative capacity reduction under the existing structure, the degree of irreversibility of the damage, and the probability of agency preservation or recovery after rupture. The article concludes by distinguishing the framework from both teleological philosophies and conservative preservationism: legitimacy is derived not from the realization of a predetermined future but from the preservation of the structural conditions for future reconfiguration. The five domains are presented as architecturally hierarchical but reciprocally interactive: politics and institutions also reshape the subject, agency, and the rhythms of erosion. Keywords: ontology of finite continuity, ontological leakage, dynamic mask, automatic mask, threshold of sufficiency, responsible suspension, ethics of sufficiency, erosive governance, non-appropriation of the future, conditional radicalism, comparative criterion of reconfigurative preservation, finite continuance