Dynamic Realism

A philosophical position that reality and everything related to it—objects, properties, laws—is inherently dynamic, processual, and changing, not static or composed of fixed substances. Drawing on process philosophy (Whitehead, Bergson) and complexity science, dynamic realism holds that being is secondary to becoming; what we call “things” are temporary stabilizations of ongoing processes (e.g., a river is a process, not an object; a species is a lineage, not a type). Laws are not eternal but evolve; identities are not fixed but fluid. It rejects the Aristotelian notion of substance as primary and emphasizes time, flux, and emergence. It is a metaphysical alternative to static materialism.

Example: “Dynamic realism explains why a hurricane is better understood as a process (energy flow, moisture cycling) than as an object. The same applies to a person: you are not a fixed self but a dynamic process of metabolism, perception, and social interaction.”

Dynamic Realism by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal June 1, 2026