Abstract

The Field: A Preliminary Ontology of Coherence and Reflexive Emergence develops a coherence-first ontological framework for the emergence of structure. The analysis begins with Pure Is-ness, defined as infinite undifferentiated coherence prior to differentiation, temporality, metric structure, and discrete ontology. Structural Self-Reference is then introduced as the first intrinsic reflexive differentiation within undivided coherence, establishing internal differentiability without ontological division. Fractal Interiorization formalizes the recursive stratification of this reflexive structure, showing how higher-order internal organization can arise without yet generating temporal succession, oscillatory dynamics, or externally distributed multiplicity. Together, these stages define a pre-dynamical architecture in which differentiation originates internally and complexity emerges through recursively deepening self-relation. The resulting framework provides a foundational ontological basis for the later treatment of threshold conditions, transition, and dynamical expression.