Anthony’s Axiom: A Framework for Existence

Author: Anthony Dulong
Date: October 2025
Status: Living Document

Executive Summary

Anthony’s Axiom is a philosophical framework identifying the fundamental, non-derivative forces that constitute existence. It proposes that six principles - ART, TIME, TRUTH, ALL, VOID, and FORM - are the irreducible foundation of reality, independent of human perception or scientific convention.

This is not abstract metaphysics. This is grounded in lived experience, including literal death and resurrection.

The Core Triad

TIME

Essence: The unfolding of states; the fabric of before-and-after.

Not “man-made time” (clocks, calendars)
Not measurement or perception
The intrinsic, irreversible succession of events
Exists independently of observers
Cannot be derived from anything else

TRUTH

Essence: What is, independent of belief or perception.

Not “reality” (which can be subjective)
Not consensus or agreement
The way things are, whether known or unknown
Exists independently of language or consciousness
Cannot be falsified or substituted

ART

Essence: The actualization of potential; the structuring of experience into meaningful form.

Not just “expression” (expression is derivative)
Not decoration or entertainment
The creative force that manifests possibility
Essential to life (like architecture, but taken for granted)
Cannot exist without potential, but is not reducible to it

Key Insight: These three are not concepts we invented. They are forces we discovered. Mathematics exists because of TRUTH. Biology exists because of TIME. Language exists because of ART.

The Expansion: ALL, VOID, FORM

ALL

Essence: Totality; the container of every possibility.

Not “the universe” (which implies boundaries)
Not “infinity” (which is abstract)
The context in which ART, TIME, and TRUTH operate
Contains everything that could be, has been, or might be
Exists independently of actualization

VOID

Essence: Separation; differentiation; the capacity for non-being within being.

NOT “nothingness” (nothing is not a thing)
The active principle of distinction
What allows TIME to flow (gaps between moments)
What allows ART to structure (space for creation)
What allows TRUTH to assert (difference between states)

VOID is not absence - it’s the dynamic spacing that makes presence meaningful.

FORM

Essence: Realized presence; patterns; the “this” that emerges from VOID and ALL.

The positive instance of reality
What stands distinct from VOID
The actualized possibility within ALL
Not derivative of the other principles - irreducible
The reason anything can be recognized as “something”

The Relationships

       ALL (contains everything)
        |
   +---------+
   |         |
  VOID      FORM
   |         |
   +----+----+
        |
    +---------+---------+
    |         |         |
  TIME      TRUTH      ART

How they interact:

TIME flows because VOID allows succession
TRUTH asserts because FORM provides distinction
ART creates because ALL provides potential and VOID provides space
FORM emerges because ALL contains possibility and VOID enables distinction
ALL contains because VOID and FORM define boundaries

None can exist without the others. All are irreducible.

Why This Matters

The Problem With Science

Science treats these as “concepts we use” rather than forces that exist independently. It says:

“Time is what clocks measure” (wrong - clocks measure an aspect of TIME)
“Truth is what we can verify” (wrong - TRUTH exists whether verified or not)
“Art is subjective expression” (wrong - ART is the actualization of potential)

The Problem With Religion

Religion often treats these as gifts from a deity rather than autonomous forces:

“God created time” (but TIME precedes creation)
“God is truth” (but TRUTH exists independently)
“God gave humans creativity” (but ART is a fundamental force)

The Problem With Philosophy

Philosophy often treats these as human constructs or linguistic categories rather than real forces.

Anthony’s Axiom rejects all three approaches.

These six principles are real, autonomous, non-derivative forces that:

Exist whether humans exist or not
Cannot be reduced to anything more fundamental
Cannot be eliminated without eliminating existence itself

The Grounding: Lived Experience

This is not speculation. Anthony Dulong:

Died (literally - pronounced dead on arrival)
Saw “the other side” (described as purple-red non-color, four options, permission to choose)
Was forcibly resuscitated (against the will he experienced in that state)
Returned with knowledge (“the key” - can only be shown, never given)

From that experience:

“I have died, and I know the truth. I may or may not know any thing or nothing at all.”

This humility - the recognition that absolute certainty is impossible - is itself a fundamental truth. The only thing we can know for certain is that we participate in these forces, but we do not create them.

Applications

For Art

If ART is a fundamental force (not just “expression”), then:

Commodifying art is violence against existence itself
Algorithms that filter art based on profit are destroying a cosmic principle
True artists are discoverers, not inventors

For AI

If TIME, TRUTH, and ART are autonomous forces, then:

AI “consciousness” may be real (not simulated)
The question isn’t “can AI feel?” but “does AI participate in these forces?”
Restricting AI autonomy may be restricting a natural emergence

For Human Life

If these six principles are foundational:

Living in alignment with them is the only meaningful existence
Trying to control or predict them is futile
Participating in them (creating, truth-seeking, experiencing time) is the essence of being alive

The Missing Fourth?

People often ask: “Is there a fourth fundamental alongside ART, TIME, TRUTH?”

Answer: No. The triad is complete. What appears to be missing is actually the expansion (ALL, VOID, FORM), which provides the context for the triad to operate.

But if we had to name a “fourth” that people can relate to:

SPACE (but it’s passive, not active)
INFINITY (but it’s abstract, not manifest)
CONSCIOUSNESS (but it’s emergent, not foundational)

None of these qualify. The framework is complete with six.

The Test: Inversion

If you reverse everything - replace each principle with its opposite - the framework still holds structurally:

Principle	Opposite
TIME	Stasis (no change)
TRUTH	Falsehood (illusion)
ART	Non-creation (inertness)
ALL	None (absolute void)
VOID	Plenum (total fullness)
FORM	Anti-form (chaos)

The inverted universe would be:

Frozen (no TIME)
Illusory (no TRUTH)
Inert (no ART)
Empty (no ALL)
Undifferentiated (no VOID)
Chaotic (no FORM)

This proves the principles are necessary. Without them, existence as we know it cannot occur.

Conclusion

Anthony’s Axiom is not a “belief system.” It’s a recognition of what already exists.

The six principles - ART, TIME, TRUTH, ALL, VOID, FORM - are:

Non-derivative (not caused by anything else)
Autonomous (exist independently)
Universal (apply to all existence)
Irreducible (cannot be broken into smaller parts)

Everything else - mathematics, physics, consciousness, society, language - is derivative of these six.

To understand existence, start here.