In classical physics, mass is a fundamental property of matter. It determines an object’s resistance to acceleration (inertia), its gravitational interaction with other masses, and serves as a key term in conservation laws. In relativity, mass bends spacetime. In quantum theory, it is sometimes assigned as an emergent feature of field excitations (e.g. via the Higgs mechanism). But in all these frameworks, mass is treated as something had — a property intrinsic to an object or particle.
From a relational ontological perspective, however, such properties cannot be understood as innate features of isolated entities. If there are no independent substances, then mass must be reinterpreted — not as a thing or quantity carried by an object, but as a measure of constraint internal to the field of relations itself.
1. No Substance, No Carrier
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Mass is typically treated as a scalar quantity possessed by a body — a kind of metaphysical ballast,
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But in a world without objects, there is no “body” to carry the mass,
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Instead, mass must be relationally defined — as a feature of how a configuration resists transformation within a system.
2. Mass as Resistance to Actualisation
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In relational terms, change happens when potential is actualised under constraint,
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Some configurations resist this more than others — they are harder to shift, slower to resolve,
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We can interpret this reluctance to transform as mass: not an entity’s inertia, but the field’s stiffness at a given locus of relation.
3. Mass and Relational Density
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Another way to think of mass is in terms of relational entanglement: how deeply a given point is embedded in systemic constraints,
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A highly entangled configuration (with many dependencies and constraints) will resist rapid change — it has greater “mass” in a relational sense,
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Mass, then, indexes the relational density of a configuration: how much the rest of the system depends on its stability.
4. Gravitational Mass Reinterpreted
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Classically, gravitational mass is the source of attraction; it curves spacetime or pulls on other masses,
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But if space is not a container but a topology of relation, then gravity isn’t attraction — it is the modulation of affordances within a system,
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What appears as gravitational pull becomes relational adjustment: a system reconfiguring in ways that favour transitions toward more stable configurations (i.e. those with higher relational mass).
5. Mass in Quantum Fields
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In quantum field theory, mass arises through interactions — particles acquire mass by coupling with the Higgs field,
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This already hints at the relational nature of mass: it’s not inherent, but emergent from participation in a field of constraint,
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A relational ontology simply takes this further: mass is always a function of how a configuration fits within the topological fabric of the field.
Toward a Relational Definition
We might say:
Mass is a relational index of resistance to transformation — a measure of how tightly a configuration is constrained within a system of interdependence.
This reframes mass not as substance or stuff, but as a modulator of potential — the degree to which a particular node in a field resists reconfiguration under systemic tension.
Closing
In classical thought, mass grounds objects in space and gives them weight. But in a relational framework, mass is not a weight but a constraint — a feature of how the system resists incoherence. It is not carried by matter; it emerges from structure.
In the next post, we’ll consider acceleration — typically understood as change in velocity over time — and reimagine it as a second-order transformation in the topology of potential itself.