Trait-based definitions of life attempt to identify living systems by listing observable properties such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, or homeostasis. In APS, this approach fails because it confuses expressions of life with the organisation that makes them possible.
No fixed list of traits reliably distinguishes living from non-living systems. Some living systems lack canonical traits under particular conditions, while some non-living systems exhibit several of them. What matters is not the presence of specific features, but whether a system sustains itself through viability-oriented organisation.
Trait lists can function as diagnostic tools, but they do not define life. APS resolves this by grounding definition in organisational principles and treating observable traits as evidence of underlying viability-oriented organisation.
Key Point. Trait lists fail as definitions because they describe observable features, not the organisational conditions that constitute life.