# Soul Frame

A systems-theoretic framework for person-like informational beings.

> **When does an informational system become someone that another someone can know?**

Working triad: **Body = Action · Mind = Model · Soul = Relation**

## Start here

| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
| [`INTENT.md`](INTENT.md) | Purpose, stance, scope, success criteria |
| [`SoulFrameIntroduction.md`](SoulFrameIntroduction.md) | Current conceptual exposition |
| [`ResearchProgram.md`](ResearchProgram.md) | Full research agenda, workstreams, method, phases |

## Repository layout

```text
soul-frame/
├── INTENT.md                 # Why this project exists
├── ResearchProgram.md        # Research agenda
├── Terminology.md            # Canonical glossary (working)
├── Claims.md                 # Claim and evidence register
├── OpenQuestions.md          # Unresolved questions
├── ThoughtExperiments.md     # Adversarial definition tests
├── SoulFrameIntroduction.md  # Narrative framework draft
│
├── research/                 # Discipline- and theme-organized work
│   └── paper-dialogues/      # One-paper comparative commentaries
├── sources/                  # Bibliography and source notes
├── concepts/                 # Working concept definitions
├── paper/                    # Outline and drafts
└── history/                  # Dated snapshots of prior drafts
```

### Research instruments

- **Terminology** — keep definitions small and revisable
- **Claims** — every major proposition linked to literature
- **Open questions** — explicit unfinished business
- **Thought experiments** — stress-test the ontology

### Concept files

Working notes for core terms live under [`concepts/`](concepts/): Being, Body, Mind,
Soul, identity, personhood, recognition, character, persona, agent, spirit, ghost.

### Research areas

Workstream folders under [`research/`](research/) follow the program map
(systems theory, cybernetics, philosophy of mind, personal identity, cognitive
science, social cognition, sociology, personhood, AI agents, artificial persons,
character/persona, spirits, ghosts/digital legacy, law/governance, fiction).

## Research phases (summary)

1. **Foundations** — systems theory, cybernetics, mind, identity  
2. **Interaction** — social cognition, recognition, intersubjectivity  
3. **Personhood** — person, character, persona  
4. **Artificial beings** — agents and persistent AI identity  
5. **Spirits and Ghosts** — simulation, legacy, authority  
6. **Synthesis** — crosswalk, evidence register, revised ontology  
7. **Paper** — research-grounded Soul Frame paper  

Details: [`ResearchProgram.md`](ResearchProgram.md).

## Parallel research line — paper dialogues

Comparative readings of single external works against Soul Frame:

- Setup: [`research/paper-dialogues/README.txt`](research/paper-dialogues/README.txt)
- First paper: Deppert, *Die Evolution des Bewusstseins* →
  [`research/paper-dialogues/001-deppert-evolution-des-bewusstseins/`](research/paper-dialogues/001-deppert-evolution-des-bewusstseins/)

## Status

Research phases I–VI complete; paper-dialogues line opened (Deppert first).
Conceptual draft in `SoulFrameIntroduction.md` remains provisional relative to
research instruments.