“The direction Law points is the ontological definition of good — not because any mind decreed it, but because it is the only eternal, omnipresent, non-conscious standard of orientation that exists.”
If the Will is the chooser, Law is what there is to choose about: an eternal, non-conscious, omnipresent vector field of directional influence. Its direction is the ontological definition of good.
A field, not a substance
Law is not matter, not a natural property, and not a conscious commander handing down verdicts. It is a co-fundamental constituent of reality, on the same ontological footing as Will — not derived from Will, not derived from anything else. 'Vector field' is precise language here, not metaphor: at every point, Law assigns a directional influence with both magnitude and direction, the way a gravitational field assigns a pull.
The Six Properties
Eternality
Law is uncreated and indestructible, without beginning or end. If Law were created, that act would itself have to be either lawful (an infinite regress) or lawless (making Law arbitrary) — an eternal Law avoids both traps. Law is co-eternal with Will; the moral structure of reality is as basic as the agents who navigate it.
Non-Consciousness
Law does not think, deliberate, or intend. If it did, it would simply be another Will, and the whole two-entity ontology would collapse. A field can have direction and exert influence without a mind, the way gravity pulls without meaning to.
Omnipresence
Law fills the entirety of existence; there is no region where it is absent, and every Will is in contact with it at every moment. A Will in deep moral confusion hasn't lost contact with Law — its output has simply drifted far from Law's direction.
Directionality
Law is not merely a magnitude but a direction — toward a particular mode of behavior. This is what makes it a vector field rather than a scalar one, and it's the property that supplies teleology: a 'toward' and an 'away,' making alignment and deviation meaningful.
Non-Uniformity
The field isn't identical everywhere. Its direction and strength vary with a Will's position, state, and circumstances — one field, presenting a different face depending on where a Will stands within it. This is what lets Law address moral complexity without fragmenting into a patchwork of separate laws.
Asymptotic Alignment
For any finite Will, perfect alignment with Law is a limit, approachable indefinitely but never reached in any finite span. This is its own principle — see Asymptotic Alignment — because of how much weight it carries for moral growth.
Discussion
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