The Two Principles

To say that the Formal Principle and the Material Principle are both fundamental is to say that neither is to be found in isolation. Hence, clarifications of them are at best approximate. Becoming-the-Same, functioning by itself, would effect an instantaneous reduction of all existence to an infinitely diminishing singularity. Becoming-Diverse would effect an instantaneous infinite dissipation of everything. More familiar would be examples in which one predominates over the other: contraction, fusion, coming to rest, etc., are systems in which the Formal Principle is stronger, while expansion, fission, setting in motion, etc., are systems in which the Material dominates. Stable systems--things, regular motions, etc., are examples of an equilibrium obtaining. The notion that ordinary fixed objects are the products of dynamic forces might defy common sense, but modern science has for centuries been exposing them as such, e. g. even an atom is a product of nuclear electrical and gravitational forces. Also, it is not to be inferred from a comparison of the two principles that a more fundamental one, Becoming, underlies them. In some theories, Becoming is indeed a fundamental principle, though it is sometimes unclear as to whether or not it is meant as sheer flux, or as a developmental motion. Here, the 'Becoming' in each principle is of a piece with -the-Same, or -Diverse, so any generaliztion is an abstraction.