Substances Are Unsubstantial: Algebraic Dissolution of the Ontology of Matter

This paper establishes the ontological status of matter within the Cognitional Mechanics (CM) framework, completing the argument initiated in Particles Are Unnecessary. The central thesis is that substances are not ontological primitives but cognitive heuristics attached to stable Tier-3 projections of the Tier-2 algebraic structure M₃(ℂ). The paper addresses the residual question left open by particle elimination: why does the chemical scale appear privileged? The answer is derived, not assumed. Elemental stability follows algebraically from the conjunction of Cartan action and automorphism action on M₃(ℂ). The boundary is an output of the algebra, not an input. The invariant ξ ≡ μα is introduced as a pure Tier-2 spectral quantity in which particle presuppositions cancel. Both μ and α individually presuppose particle ontology; their product yields a pure spectral ratio derivable from M₃(ℂ) structure alone, constituting the mathematical self-dissolution of substance ontology. The historical trajectory from Newton through Maxwell to Einstein is shown to point toward progressive ontological elimination. CM completes this trajectory. Gauge theory is reinterpreted as the Newtonian mechanics of the microscopic: valid within bounds, structurally false as a foundation. The paper closes with a formal statement: matter is the collective cognitive label of stable resonance nodes of M₃(ℂ) spectral structure under Tier-3 observation conditions. Neither physics nor chemistry answers ontological questions. The question itself dissolves within the Tier architecture.