From Relational Paradox to Finite Continuity: Resolving the Problem of Asymmetrical Persistence

Contemporary relational metaphysics has successfully dismantled substance-based ontologies, yet it confronts a residual and largely overlooked difficulty: the problem of asymmetrical persistence. If being is constituted solely by networks of relations, and if the foundational ground of these relations is ontologically paradoxical, then why do certain finite structures exhibit vastly greater temporal endurance than others? This question is not reducible to the classic problem of diachronic identity, which asks whether an entity persists; rather, it demands a criterion for why and to what degree different relational configurations resist structural erosion over time. While process philosophies describe the flux of becoming, they provide no metric for differentiating intensities of persistence. Similarly, Alexis Karpouzos's Dimensionless Ontology provides a rigorous account of the primordial paradoxical ground, yet it leaves open the question of differential persistence among finite relational structures. This paper argues that this lacuna can be resolved only by deriving the principle of Finite Continuity as an immanent necessity of the paradoxical ground itself. I demonstrate that a purely indeterminate paradox cannot actualize itself as a differentiated temporal world without an internal mechanism of self-limitation. By introducing the concept of Temporal Friction as a topological constraint function of regeneration rate, erosive intensity, and the threshold of sufficiency, I establish a non-substantialist criterion for ontological endurance. This framework does not merely synthesize theories; it opens a new research program for understanding how finite beings persist within an infinitely relational reality. Keywords: Asymmetrical Persistence, Relational Ontology, Finite Continuity, Temporal Friction, Process Metaphysics, Dynamic Masking, Diachronic Identity, Alexis Karpouzos