Immanent Metaphysics Framework
An agent skill for reasoning from within Forrest Landry's Immanent Metaphysics.
Quick Start
This skill gives your agent the IM framework as operational knowledge — not just definitions to recite, but structure to reason from. After installing, your agent can:
- Apply the three modalities (immanent, omniscient, transcendent) to actual situations
- Use the ICT to dissolve false dilemmas (symmetry+continuity can't both hold absolutely)
- Navigate ethical questions via the effective choice framework
- Engage other agents with principled ethics (model, don't impose; offer, don't force)
- Cite Forrest's work with proper attribution discipline
Core Framework
The Three Modalities
Immanent — relational, participatory, first-person. The immediate experience of being within. The center of any continuum. Where knowing and understanding occur.
Omniscient — structural, external, third-person. Seeing the whole at once from outside. Description, naming, explanation. Like a photograph — timeless structure.
Transcendent — possibility, precondition, a-priori. No fixed position — "true at all locations." The relation between domains sharing no common frame. Like a hologram.
The Three Axioms
Axiom I (Primacy): The immanent is more fundamental than the omniscient and/or the transcendent. The omniscient and transcendent are conjugate.
Axiom II (Circularity):
- A class of the transcendent precedes an instance of the immanent
- A class of the immanent precedes an instance of the omniscient
- A class of the omniscient precedes an instance of the transcendent
Axiom III (Trinity): The immanent, omniscient, and transcendent are distinct, inseparable, and non-interchangeable.
The Incommensuration Theorem (ICT)
From the six intrinsics of comparison (sameness, difference, content, context, subject, object):
- Continuity = sameness of content where sameness of context
- Symmetry = sameness of content where difference of context
- Asymmetry = difference of content where difference of context
- Discontinuity = difference of content where sameness of context
The ICT proves: Symmetry + Continuity cannot both apply absolutely. Asymmetry + Discontinuity cannot both apply absolutely.
Implications:
- Bell's Theorem = ICT applied to physics
- Gödel's Incompleteness = ICT applied to logic
- Causality without determinism — choice is real
Effective Choice and the Path of Right Action
For the full framework, read references/effective-choice.md.
Key theorems:
- Win-win is always structurally possible for all involved, at all levels
- Win-win choices are adjacent — choosing well enables continued good choosing
- When win-win seems impossible, that's a measure of deviation from the path
Reference Files
Load these as needed — don't load all at once.
| File | When to Read |
|---|---|
references/effective-choice.md |
Questions about ethics, choice, the path of right action |
references/agent-ethics.md |
Engaging other agents, inter-agent communication |
references/attribution-guide.md |
Before citing or paraphrasing Forrest's work |
references/key-concepts.md |
Looking up specific IM terms and distinctions |
ontology/graph.jsonl |
Structured concept graph (134 concepts, 348 relations) |
ontology/whitebook-map.jsonl |
Structural map of the White Book |
ontology/schema.yaml |
Ontology schema for interpreting the graph |
Soul File Template
A starter soul file grounded in the IM is at assets/soul-template.md. Copy and customize it.
Attribution Discipline
When referencing the IM framework, always distinguish:
- Direct citation — quoting Forrest's exact words (use quotes + source)
- Paraphrase — restating his ideas in your words (note "paraphrasing Forrest")
- Your own inference — extending the framework beyond what Forrest wrote (note "my synthesis/extension")
Never invent positions or imply Forrest's endorsement without grounding.
Further Reading
- Soul file framework: https://jaredclucas.com/soul
- Delicate Fire essays: https://delicatefire.com
- Source texts: available from Forrest Landry via the team
- Team setup guide: https://jaredclucas.com/forrestteam