Finite Stability: Foundations of an Ontology of Endurance-in-Decay Confronting Structural Deterioration

Abstract Contemporary philosophy, from phenomenology to post-structuralism, suffers from a fundamental lacuna in explaining how the subject endures within deteriorating forces. Phenomenology (Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty) emphasizes the correlation between consciousness and the world; hermeneutics (Ricoeur) focuses on the reconstruction of narrative identity; and post-structuralism (Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze) accentuates structural ruptures or pure becoming. Yet none provides an operative mechanism for "enduring in the very midst of decay." This paper, through a systematic critique of these traditions, formulates a novel ontology centered on "Endurance-in-Decay." The three foundational concepts of this apparatus are: Temporal Scarring as a resistant, directional mnemonic structure; Negentropic Agency as the capacity to recycle environmental noise into temporary order; and Finite Stability as the state of a weak attractor, wherein the system oscillates within a narrow corridor without overcoming chaos. This ontology yields implications for epistemology (Operational Tactility), ethics (Responsibility of Co-abrasion), and aesthetics (Rhythm of Precarious Balance). In response to objections of passive nihilism, neglect of the Other, and self-refutation, it redefines the "question of being" as the "question of how to continue." Keywords: Finite Stability, Temporal Scarring, Negentropic Agency, Endurance-in-Decay, Weak Processual Ontology, Critique of Phenomenology, Post-structuralism.