What is an Object?

This paper examines the nature of objecthood through a familiar example: a soccer ball. While objects are often treated as self‑contained, static entities, our own cognition reveals that objecthood depends fundamentally on temporal persistence. We recognize an object not by its materials or appearance but by the stable pattern of behavior that endures across time. Without temporal continuity, an object collapses into a momentary sensation. This paper argues that time is not an added dimension of objects but the condition that makes objecthood possible. An object is the portion of experience that remains coherent long enough for the mind to treat it as the same.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-01-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18402985
Primary Topic
Embodied and Extended Cognition
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

What is an Object?

Denis Bailey
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Embodied and Extended Cognition
article

What is an Object?

Denis Bailey
article en

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of objecthood through a familiar example: a soccer ball. While objects are often treated as self‑contained, static entities, our own cognition reveals that objecthood depends fundamentally on temporal persistence. We recognize an object not by its materials or appearance but by the stable pattern of behavior that endures across time. Without temporal continuity, an object collapses into a momentary sensation. This paper argues that time is not an added dimension of objects but the condition that makes objecthood possible. An object is the portion of experience that remains coherent long enough for the mind to treat it as the same.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 76%
Embodied and Extended Cognition
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What is an Object? — Denis Bailey · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS