Since a highly refined philosophical outlook probably makes the most sense, why not apply such philosophies to software?
Because most people (aka programmers) don't subscribe to a single philsophical view. Not so with objects. Most people when they see a bee, they'll recocknize it as a bee (or insect). And if you are, for example, religious, wouldn't you try to bring God or Jesus or some such beliefs into your work?
Actually I believe the most common answer to this question is "No" since most religions subscribe to the idea that god is the only perfect being, and mankind is imperfect. Thus trying to bring god into a human process would be considered blasphemous. For me it is not just about talking about programming in isolation, it is talking about ethics and sense of reality and the source of my inspiration that I respect.
Ethics and sense of reality isn't really much of an issue with regards to computer programming. The handle is detached and allows you to keep control of the fact that the objects are unique, even though they may be acting identically.
This is already the case in OO methodlogies. All objects by definition have Identity, State and Behavior. But because that tree is now confined to the definition of what a tree is, you can't think of that tree as anything else. You can maybe compose it of branches or leaves or whatever, but this is still thinking of trees.
And how is that "short of how the world models itself"? But object-oriented programming treats objects as though they have a permanent fixed reality.
No it doesn't. That really stems from the fact that computers have an extreme sense of state - on or off, black and white, exists or doesn't.
Except object oriented methodology takes place in domain space - not computer space. Sure, a computer is a finite state machine, but even metaphysically speaking, everything has a finite ammount of states. It's just a matter of determining which are relevant to your object model. I am thinking this is going to be a better way to model the world. It would give more flexibility, efficiency and is an even more natural and accurate representation of reality - for me anyway.
What you're thinking about is the Composite Method Pattern.