Action-Governing Meaning (AGM)
The force-bearing state of meaning after binding
1. Canonical Definition
Action-Governing Meaning (AGM) is the force-bearing state of meaning produced by binding within an interpretive event. AGM constrains response selection by specifying which actions are permitted, required, deferred, escalated, or inhibited prior to execution. AGM is event-internal and does not depend on the Event Closure State resolving to closure or on persistence across time.
2. Phase and Preconditions
Operates: event-internal
Requires: binding under an active interpretive jurisdiction
Does not require: action execution, Event Closure State resolution, crystallization, or legitimacy
3. Scope and Exclusions
Action-Governing Meaning is not:
identical to binding itself
equivalent to action execution or outcome
a response pathway or routing decision
a post-event baseline or regime
a variable, force, or evaluative measure
4. Structural Role
AGM exists between binding and response routing. It carries the governing constraint selected at binding and increases coordination cost for alternatives. Response routing maps AGM onto an authorized pathway when action determinacy holds, but AGM does not determine which pathway is taken and does not determine whether the Event Closure State resolves to closure or explicit openness.
5. Authority and Legitimacy Status
Authority relation: neutral
Legitimacy relation: relevant
AGM carries governance force under the operative meaning regime established at binding. Legitimacy is classified at binding and inherited by AGM but is not created by AGM itself.
6. Common Category Errors
Treating AGM as synonymous with binding
Treating AGM as equivalent to execution or outcome
Collapsing AGM directly into response routing
Treating AGM as a persistent baseline across events
7. Canonical Cross-References
Binding • Interpretation • Meaning • Determinacy Conditions • Response Routing • Meaning Regimes (PCMR / DMR) • Event Closure State • Action Determinacy Loss (ADL)
8. Plain Statement
Action-Governing Meaning is the state where meaning has force over what responses are allowed before anything actually happen