This paper presents the Paton System as a unified constraint-based framework defining the conditions under which systems can exist be observed and continue. The framework operates as a pre-theoretical structural layer governing admissibility observation and continuation across domains. It establishes that system existence depends on admissibility formation occurs through recursive constraint and continuation is governed by viability under constraint. Observation is defined as a bounded interface rather than full system access and system limits are interpreted as boundaries of admissible reconstruction rather than final states. The framework applies across domains without modifying existing scientific theories and provides a structural condition for when models are permitted to operate.
Andrew John Paton (2026) studied this question.