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.
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
Reid's 1785 foundational Scottish "common sense" philosophy — direct realist response to Hume
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (Late) |
|---|---|
| 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 | Both |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| 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
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
The temporal life of perceiving subject.
Space
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
The space of directly perceived external objects.
Matter
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
External material objects directly known in perception.
Observer
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
The common-sense perceiving subject.
Energy
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
Energies of direct perception.
Information
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
Common-sense realist framework.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Reid's common-sense realism in continuing dialogue with sceptical-idealist tradition (Locke, Berkeley, Hume) and modern analytic philosophy.