Reconstruction Procedure: A Constitutional Specification for Foundational Reconstruction

Abstract This paper defines the Reconstruction Procedure of the Foundations Program. Previous papers established Foundational Inquiry as a domain-independent methodology, formulated the Foundational Reconstruction Hypothesis, and clarified that primitive status is a methodological conclusion rather than an initial assumption. This paper specifies the procedure by which foundational reconstruction is to be performed. The Reconstruction Procedure identifies a foundational commitment, isolates it as a Reconstruction Object, defines its functional role, maps its dependency structure, audits its current constitutional status, determines its eligibility for reconstruction, generates admissible candidates, tests those candidates, records failure, updates the Reconstruction Atlas, and assigns provisional closure. The procedure is not a scientific theory, an ontology, a historical interpretation, or a replacement for existing disciplines. Its object is the constitutional status of the commitments from which systems of knowledge begin. Reconstruction is defined not as conceptual novelty or theoretical replacement, but as the disciplined investigation of whether a foundational commitment can be derived from weaker structures while preserving its protected explanatory function. This paper establishes Reconstruction as an executable constitutional procedure and prepares the formal ground for the later development of the Reconstruction Calculus.