From Pathfinding to Field Theory: The Transition from A* on the Moral Manifold to the Moral Field Equation

The Geometric Ethics framework models moral reasoning as A^* pathfinding on a nine-dimensional Riemannian manifold , where obligations define heuristics, the metric tensor encodes trade-offs, and behavioral friction provides the cost function. This paper articulates the transition from pathfinding---which is analogous to classical particle mechanics---to a full moral field theory, analogous to the transition from Newtonian mechanics to general relativity. We identify four concrete mathematical upgrades required: (1)~from scalar heuristics to the dynamic moral metric tensor g_ , (2)~from search-cost minimization to the moral Lagrangian and the Hamilton principle for ethics, (3)~from flat-space pathfinding to the Riemann curvature tensor and moral holonomy, and (4)~from local gauge constraints to a candidate moral field equation relating curvature to moral sources. We report that CHSH Bell tests (N = 600) have empirically falsified the original SU(2)_I U(1)_H gauge group proposal, establishing the classical D_4 U(1)_H as the correct symmetry of the moral manifold. The paper locates each upgrade within the existing framework, identifies what is proven, what is empirically confirmed, and what remains open, and argues that the A^* model and the field theory are not competitors but layers of the same architecture: A^* is the computationally tractable approximation; the field equation is the generating theory from which the approximation derives. Author preprint deposited for archival and citation. Draft — pending author review.