The Primary Axiom of Value, formulated by philosopher John McMurtry, offers a universal criterion for evaluating systems, processes, and institutions: “That which enables life is of value; that which disables life is not.” While originally articulated in the context of ethical and political philosophy, this axiom has increasing relevance amid the contemporary metacrisis — an entangled global condition of ecological collapse, systemic fragmentation, and epistemic breakdown. This white paper reconceptualizes McMurtry’s Axiom as a meta-epistemological attractor: a symbolic phase constraint that can guide integrative meta-design across health, governance, education, and ecology. By embedding the Axiom within a regenerative coherence framework and aligning it with developmental models such as the TATi grammar (Tend, Align, Transcend, Integrate), we demonstrate its capacity to function not as a metric, but as a value compass — orienting diverse frameworks, policies, and symbolic systems toward nested, life-enabling coherence. In doing so, we propose a unifying principle for bridging integrative paradigms, informing cross-disciplinary coordination, and grounding a new civilizational attractor centered not on control, optimization, or abstraction — but on the living spiral of life coherence.
