Contemporary biology includes a range of approaches that move beyond reductionist explanations. These include systems theory, enactivism, the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, constraint-based theories, and formal frameworks such as the Free Energy Principle.
Each of these captures an important aspect of living systems:
- systems approaches describe interaction and dynamics
- enactivism explains cognition as embodied sense-making
- evolutionary extensions incorporate development and organism–environment interaction
- formal frameworks model regulation under uncertainty
However, these approaches differ in their explanatory starting points and often lack a unified grounding.
APS does not replace these frameworks or compete with them as one theory among others. It clarifies the conditions under which their explanations apply.
In APS:
- living systems are defined by viability-oriented, constraint-closed organisation
- biological processes are normatively structured by their contribution to persistence
- agency, process, and scale are co-constitutive aspects of living organisation
From this perspective, contemporary theories can be understood as capturing different dimensions of biological organisation, but not always specifying what makes that organisation biological.
Key Point. APS adds a unifying explanatory grammar: it grounds diverse biological theories in the organisational conditions required for life, clarifying their scope, limits, and points of integration.