Criteria-Lessness: A Structural Condition in Evaluative Processes

This concept note introduces criteria-lessness as a structural condition in which evaluative processes may operate without explicit and operational criteria. The note explores how evaluation may continue to function under such conditions while lacking a stable framework for judgment. It positions criteria-lessness as an analytical starting point for examining later developments such as criteria failure, criteria breach, and bias dynamics within evaluative systems. This publication forms part of an open research series on criteriology and the Self-Matryoshka Analytical Framework (S-MAF). This note belongs to a conceptual sub-series developing the analytical foundations introduced in Criteriology: A Preliminary…