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cff-version: "1.2.0"
type: article

title: "The Ontological Neutrality Theorem: Structural Constraints for Neutral Substrates Under Persistent Interpretive Disagreement"
version: "v0.2.0"
date-released: "2026-03-15"

authors:
  - family-names: Case
    given-names: Denise M.
    orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6165-7389
    affiliation: "Northwest Missouri State University, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, Maryville, MO, USA"

repository-code: "https://github.com/structural-explainability/paper-100-neutral-substrate"
url: "https://github.com/structural-explainability/paper-100-neutral-substrate"
license: CC-BY-4.0

abstract: >
  This paper establishes a necessary and sufficient condition
  for ontological neutrality: a substrate satisfies interpretive
  non-commitment and extension stability if and only if its
  foundational layer excludes causal and normative commitments.
  Neutral substrates must be pre-causal and pre-normative,
  representing entities with identity and persistence conditions
  while externalizing causal and normative interpretation
  to higher organizational layers.

keywords:
  - formal ontology
  - ontological neutrality
  - neutral substrates
  - stable reference
  - persistent disagreement
  - extension stability
  - causal commitment
  - normative commitment
  - structural explainability
  - interpretive non-commitment
  - pre-causal
  - pre-normative

message: "If using this work, please cite it as described in this file."