Dynamic Mask Theory: From Responsible Suspension to Adaptive Continuity—Toward an Ontology of the Subject-in-Decay

Abstract Dynamic Mask Theory (DMT), as developed by Morteza Niami, initially emerged as a pragmatic framework for managing "subjective seepage" and preserving agency through the mechanism of "responsible suspension." However, the maturation of any philosophical system demands three simultaneous movements: the horizontal expansion of its field applications, the systematic articulation of its intellectual lineage within the broader philosophical tradition, and—most critically—the vertical deepening of its claims from a mere theoretical apparatus to a foundational ontology. This article undertakes a comprehensive reconstruction of DMT along all three axes. First, it demonstrates the theory's explanatory power across six concrete domains: social media, emotional relationships, university environments, artificial intelligence, labor markets, and politics. Second, it situates DMT in critical dialogue with Erving Goffman, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Slavoj Žižek, revealing both convergences and ruptures. Third, and most decisively, it confronts three foundational questions that arise from the inner logic of Niami's philosophy: What provides continuity between dynamic masks? What role does the body play in producing and constraining masks? And what does "truth" mean in a world of fluid, proliferating identities? The answers to these questions lead to the thesis that the mask is not a tool for managing seepage but the very condition of possibility for the subject. This ontological turn, encapsulated in the claim that "the subject does not exist without the mask," transforms DMT from a subsidiary theory into a central pillar of a post-essentialist philosophy of subjectivity. The article introduces the concept of "adaptive continuity" as the bridge between responsible suspension and the ontology of the subject-in-decay, arguing that the subject is not a substance but an event—a dynamic pattern of responding to erosion with ethical vigilance. Keywords: Dynamic Mask Theory, responsible suspension, adaptive continuity, ontology of the subject-in-decay, subjective seepage, Goffman, Foucault, Butler, Žižek, post-essentialism, identity, agency