Semantic and Epistemic Governance in Language-Model Reasoning

Conceptual preprint v0.2.0 (not peer reviewed). Paper 1. A language model can propose a change that achieves a requested goal while altering permissions elsewhere in a rule system. It can also reach a plausible conclusion from evidence that the governing policy does not authorize it to use. These are different errors. We distinguish semantic governance, concerning the admissibility and consequences of changes to a defined representation, from epistemic governance, concerning the admissibility and use of claims under explicit evidence rules. We formulate task-relative contracts for ontology changes, protected queries, authority, provenance, conflict handling and warranted action. We explain how these contracts interact and how model answers can be evaluated while accepting multiple valid witnesses, repairs and investigation plans. The framework draws on established work in ontology evolution, policy analysis, provenance and consistent query answering. Its contribution is an evaluation-oriented synthesis, not a claim to originate those theories or the terms themselves. The framework does not require a particular benchmark result and does not establish real-source truth, autonomous-agent containment or universal governance competence. Files: reviewed manuscript PDF; scientific supplement with editable sources, primary-source references, deterministic offline finite-example checkers and recorded results; SHA-256 checksums. No new model measurements are introduced. Timothy O'Brien is the sole author and an independent researcher without institutional affiliation. No external funding or competing interests. AI assistance is disclosed in the manuscript; automated checks do not constitute external scientific peer review. Manuscript and original supporting materials: CC BY 4.0; third-party sources retain their rights. The deposit preserves the exact GitHub v0.2.0-preprint artifacts: https://github.com/prosessleder/semantic-epistemic-governance-foundations-preprint/releases/tag/v0.2.0-preprint . Cite the DOI assigned to this Zenodo record; citation text inside the preserved source ZIP predates the DOI.