3 The Relational Field: Emergence of Space

In the previous post, we saw how introducing a second process allowed time to emerge as a horizon of relational coherence. Sequence, “before” and “after,” became meaningful only through the alignment of multiple processes.

Now, let us expand the universe to include many processes. With multiplicity comes a new horizon: space.

Space as Relational Horizon

When multiple processes coexist, we can begin to ask:

• How are these processes positioned relative to one another?

• How do they extend, overlap, or coexist in a larger field?

Space, in relational ontology, is not a pre-existing container. It is the horizon of potential alignment, the perspectival field within which relations between processes can be construed. It allows us to make sense of extension, proximity, and coexistence.

Relation vs. Space

It is crucial to distinguish relations from space:

• Relations are actual cuts — the alignments, interactions, or coherences that exist between processes.

• Space is the potential horizon — the condition that allows such relations to be meaningfully construed.

Without multiple processes, there is no space. Just as time required at least two processes, space requires many processes. Space emerges as the relational canvas upon which processes can be juxtaposed, extended, and coordinated.

Implications

• Space is not intrinsic to the processes themselves; it is a product of how we construe them relationally.

• Position, distance, and extension exist only in the field of multiple, co-actualised processes.

• Like time, space is a second-order phenomenon, emerging from relational construal rather than existing independently.

Looking Ahead

From solitary processes to many, we see how relational ontology gradually builds the familiar scaffolds of experience: first process, then time, then space. In future posts, we will explore recursive processes, reflexivity, and symbolic systems, showing how even more complex horizons — including meaning, identity, and collective construal — emerge from these fundamental principles.