Comprehensive Theory of Self-Determination
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Why this map is needed
This map helps read the language of CTSD as a unified system. The concepts here are not slogans, but analytical tools for describing identity, subjecthood, choice, and institutional capability.
Self-determination
In CTSD, self-determination is not a one-time choice or a formal right. It is the capacity of persons and public subjects to recognize their condition, orient within complexity, preserve authorship of decision, and responsibly shape their trajectory.
Subjecthood and identity
Subjecthood means being the author of one’s decisions, not a passive bearer of external pressures or habits. Identity is the inner structure of that subjecthood: a system of meanings, values, obligations, and capacities that preserves wholeness in a changing world.
Wholeness and responsibility
For CTSD, self-determination is stable when choice, values, capacities, and acceptance of consequences are not separated from each other. Wholeness allows one to act as a subject, while responsibility connects personal decision to public environment and future.
8 domains and 36 forms
The canonical map opens self-determination across eight domains: ontological, mental, cognitive, biological, relational, institutional, economic, and technological. These domains are not isolated fields; within them CTSD distinguishes 36 forms that reveal asymmetries and interactions of capacity.
From map to methodology
This map serves as a shared language for CTSD articles, diagnostic models, and educational materials. It helps separate materials function not as isolated texts, but as one connected disciplinary system from the human being to institutions and the civilizational future.