Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
On Providence (fragments)
Stoic compatibilism — the cylinder analogy, co-causation, and the rational defence of cosmic fate against the problem of evil
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | On Providence (fragments) (Mature) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Cyclical |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Finite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | not engaged |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Mediated |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Both |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Cosmic-ordering |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Reversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
On Providence (fragments)
Cyclical Stoic cosmic time; deterministic fate operates within and across cycles.
Space
On Providence (fragments)
Finite Stoic cosmos pervaded by pneuma.
Matter
On Providence (fragments)
Corporeal active and passive principles; even God/logos is material.
Observer
On Providence (fragments)
The rational agent whose assent is a co-cause within the fated order; the cylinder analogy.
Energy
On Providence (fragments)
Pneuma as the active energetic principle; conflagration as reversible transformation.
Information
On Providence (fragments)
The logos as the conserved rational structure; fate as the complete causal information of the cosmos.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The compatibility of strict causal determinism with genuine moral responsibility remains the central challenge; Carneades attacked the cylinder analogy in antiquity.