Transmutarianism: A Systemic Framework for Moral Accounting Based on Relational Need Flows

This paper introduces Transmutarianism, a novel ethical framework that evaluates moral work based on transmutation ratios, capturing the relationship between what an agent absorbs (receives) and what they emit (provides to others) across hierarchically-weighted human need dimensions. Grounded in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the framework operates as moral accounting: measuring the flow of relational value using economic mechanisms while leaving questions of moral worth to cultures, religions, and individual communities.

The paper establishes the Conduit (the morally neutral baseline at origin point 0,0) from which all transmutation is measured, formalizes filtering and amplification functions (M = τF + A), and introduces the asymmetry coefficient as a cross-cultural control mechanism allowing diverse communities to calibrate the framework according to their values. Nine unique theoretical claims are presented with testable predictions, supported by five decades of empirical research across psychology, neuroscience, epidemiology, and network science.

Key contributions include: formal mathematical definitions for moral work across five need dimensions, a quadrant model of agent archetypes (Transmuter, Absorber, Magnifier, Extractor), temporal yield dynamics for evaluating slow-return moral work, a measurement framework with validated instrument proxies, edge case analyses addressing sixteen theoretical tensions, and extension of the framework to artificial intelligence governance through universal agent accounting.

Where traditional economics measures productivity, Transmutarianism measures relational contribution. Where existing ethical frameworks treat agents symmetrically, Transmutarianism accounts for differential starting conditions. The framework makes visible the moral work of those who transmute deprivation into fulfillment and provides formal language for the moral debt of extraction.