Interpretation as Finite-Time Stabilization - A Structural Theory of Realization, Revision, and Decision

Interpretation as Finite-Time Stabilization develops a structural framework in which interpretation is modeled as the finite‑time stabilization of an internal configuration. The theory distinguishes stabilization, availability, and supersession as three temporally ordered events, and separates internal consistency, external fidelity, and operative dominance as independent structural quantities. Two primitive operations - re-entry and exit - generate candidates, stabilized configurations, commitments, and a hierarchy of higher‑order reclassification. The framework predicts that competing interpretations may become available before they become dominant, producing a measurable dominance lag; that internal coherence does not entail fidelity to input; that higher‑order reclassification yields distinct interpretive states; and that operative configurations can govern behavior even when fidelity is indeterminate. Structural cases (Barthes, Burroughs, the detective) illustrate the distinctions, and four experimental directions specify how the temporal and functional quantities can be empirically dissociated. The result is a general theory of interpretation as a dynamical process of stabilization, persistence, re-entry, and supersession.