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.
A Time for Choosing
"The Speech" — Reagan's 1964 nationally televised address on behalf of Goldwater, the founding document of modern American conservatism's movement politics
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | A Time for Choosing (Early (launched Reagan's political career)) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Tradition |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| 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
A Time for Choosing
The Cold War historical-political time as the framing temporal structure.
Space
A Time for Choosing
The American political space; the broader Cold War global space.
Matter
A Time for Choosing
Embodied American citizens whose lives are shaped by the political choices in question.
Observer
A Time for Choosing
The American citizen as the political observer-decider; Reagan as the public-political voice.
Energy
A Time for Choosing
The political-rhetorical energies of the speech; the broader political energies of post-war American conservatism.
Information
A Time for Choosing
The political tradition of American limited-government conservatism preserved through Reagan's articulation.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
"A Time for Choosing" launched Reagan's political career but its specific policy positions have been continuously contested. The relation between Reagan's rhetorical-political framework and the actual policy record of his presidency has been a continuing historical-political question. Subsequent American conservatism has variously claimed or moved beyond Reagan's framework.