Axiomatic Foundation of Narrative Legitimacy

This project presents an axiomatic foundation for narrative legitimacy. It defines a minimal condition under which narrative outcomes are perceived as “earned” rather than contrived, expressed through the inequality Effect < Cost. Cost is treated as a subjective cognitive evaluation shaped by constraints, effort, time, and sacrifice across situational, relational, symbolic, and civilizational value layers. The paper distinguishes reader-side causal coherence from character-side psychological necessity and shows how legitimacy emerges when these cognitive layers converge. It integrates findings from cognitive psychology, social psychology, developmental and cultural psychology, narratology, and evolutionary theory. Supplementary appendices provide parameter adjustments for developmental stages, cultural contexts, genre conventions, value-layer mapping, edge-case legitimacy patterns, and post-hoc cost augmentation as a narrative repair strategy. Together, these analyses demonstrate that the Legitimacy Axiom offers a universal evaluative structure whose parameters vary across audiences, cultures, and narrative forms.