Reality is made of events and becomings, not fixed things. Stability is a temporary achievement that needs explaining.
- +Fits Pragmatist Epistemology, Post-structuralist Epistemology
- –Tension with Positivist Epistemology
Key thinkers: Alfred North Whitehead, Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze
The longer story
What if reality isn't made of things but of processes? Process ontology—from Whitehead to Deleuze—says becoming is more fundamental than being. Nothing stays put. What we call 'objects' are just temporarily stable patterns in continuous flow. A musical work isn't a fixed thing; it's an ongoing process of performance, interpretation, reinterpretation. This matters because it changes what you're looking for. Instead of asking 'what is this thing?' you ask 'how is this happening?' Great for studying improvisation, collaboration, creative emergence—anything where change and flow are the point, not interruptions to study around.