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.
Definitions of Philosophy
What is philosophy? — six answers from the Greek tradition harmonised into a single propaedeutic for the Armenian philosophical curriculum
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Definitions of Philosophy |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Both |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| 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 | Emergent |
| 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 | Both |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Definitions of Philosophy
Both — the eternal realm of the Forms and intelligible truths, and the temporal order in which the student pursues philosophy. Substantival, linear, uni-directional.
Space
Definitions of Philosophy
Finite, substantival, three-dimensional. The Neoplatonic hierarchy implies a structured metaphysical space from the One downward, though David does not theorise physical space independently.
Matter
Definitions of Philosophy
Emergent: matter is the lowest level of the Neoplatonic emanative hierarchy. "Care of death" implies rising above material existence. Finite, conserved.
Observer
Definitions of Philosophy
Both embodied and capable of intellectual ascent toward the divine. Active: philosophy requires dialectical effort. Mediated: knowledge comes through the commentary tradition and the study of texts. Total retainment: the soul retains knowledge of eternal truths.
Energy
Definitions of Philosophy
Finite, conserved. The Neoplatonic framework implies emanation from the One but David does not develop an independent energy theory.
Information
Definitions of Philosophy
Substantival: the six definitions encode the informational structure of philosophy itself. The Forms and logical categories are the fundamental informational substrate. Conserved through the commentary tradition and the soul's immortality.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The harmonisation of six definitions is philosophically elegant but raises the question of whether genuine tensions between them are suppressed. Is philosophy primarily theoretical (knowledge of beings) or practical (assimilation to God)? Is it primarily Aristotelian (science of sciences) or Platonic (care of death)? David's Neoplatonist synthesis resolves these by subordination: the lower definitions are contained in the higher (assimilation to God encompasses all the others). The tension between pagan Neoplatonic philosophy and David's Christian context remains below the surface of the extant texts.