A Field-Theoretic Taxonomy of Emotions

Paper 5 v1.5 in the friction-theory paper series. This version is a substantive revision of v1.3 (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20058826) with the following content changes: New §3.0a "Substrate-mechanic underlying the valence axis": develops valence as a reactance-state-readout on encoded distributions, distributed across the Friction Matrix (four fields × five layers = up to twenty reactance-loci) with hierarchical aggregation (per-field, per-layer, global) accounting for the unified subjective valence-experience. Three quantitative falsification conditions specified: F-DR1 (single-locus reactance), F-DR2 (substrate-inconsistent mechanic), F-DR3 (field-specific dissociation). Component 4 (valence) reformulated as reactance-state-readout: positive valence reads off as low/no reactance on the active substrate; negative valence reads off as high reactance; unresolved valence as conflicting or pre-aggregation readouts. §3.7 Reactance-typology reframed: external, internal, and field-priority-override reactance now presented as case-studies of the distributed-reactance architecture from §3.0a. Terminology: lagtyngde → layer-weight (English-canonical term throughout). Three internal tensions resolved by the distributed-reactance extension: Damasio's somatic markers (now biological-layer reactance, dissociable from higher-layer reactance), neonatal valence response (biological-layer reactance on hardwired stimulus-response distributions), and Lindquist et al. (2012) meta-analytic finding of distributed emotion-substrate (now predicted, not accommodated). The emotion-taxonomy itself (§3.2-§3.6 feeling-categories, §5 four-category architecture, Feeling Dictionary §3.10, six-component model §3.0, falsification conditions F1/F2/F3 §7.4c) is preserved unchanged from v1.3. Abstract. Existing emotion-taxonomies either stipulate discrete natural kinds (Ekman, Plutchik, Panksepp) or deny them in favour of constructed categories built on core-affect primitives (Barrett, Russell). Neither view generates a closed taxonomy with substrate-grounded mechanism. We propose an integrative architecture grounded in Friction Theory (FT; Pødenphant Lund 2026b) as instantiated in biological organisms by Behavioural Friction Theory (BFT; Pødenphant Lund 2026a). The framework specifies six moving parts: (1) friction's quality (strength, distribution, rhythm); (2) fields (Safety, Meaning, Ability, Effort); (3) layers (Biological → Emotional → Inner → Cognitive → External); (4) valence (positive, negative, unresolved) — read out from a substrate-mechanic of distributed reactance with hierarchical aggregation across the Friction Matrix (§3.0a); (5) dynamic effects (anticipation, surprise, prediction-error); (6) configurations (cross-field, ambivalence, misconfiguration, unresolved). The framework generates ~45 feeling-labels with specific substrate-paths, predicts psychiatric conditions as selective field × layer dysfunctions, predicts a developmental sequence with Meaning developing in two phases, makes specific cross-substrate predictions for large language models, and resolves the Panksepp-Barrett disagreement as scope-separation (substrate-realism does not entail category-realism). Falsifying evidence specified at three classes (F1 neural-dissociation, F2 evolutionary-parallel, F3 race-temporal-structure) plus three distributed-reactance conditions (F-DR1 single-locus, F-DR2 substrate-inconsistent, F-DR3 field-specific dissociation). Companion papers in the series: Paper 0 (BFT): 10.5281/zenodo.19462500 Paper 1 (FT generalised): 10.5281/zenodo.20012655 Paper 2 (Capacity Scaling): 10.5281/zenodo.20013491 Paper 3 (Friction-guided inference): 10.5281/zenodo.20014122 Paper 10 (Race-architecture, physics scope): 10.5281/zenodo.20014568 Paper 14 (Logic as Reactance, in preparation) — provides the substrate-mechanic foundation for §3.0a. Concept-DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20058825 auto-points to the latest version.