Welcome to APS_WEB
The Agency–Process–Scale (APS) framework is a theoretical framework for understanding life as viability-oriented, constraint-closed organisation, integrating biological organisation, persistence, and evolution within a unified conceptual structure.
This site functions as a research reference for the APS framework, bringing together explanatory articles, glossary definitions, and research papers. Rather than presenting isolated essays, APS_WEB organises these materials as an interconnected conceptual system in which definitions, arguments, and examples can be explored together.
A distinctive feature of the site is the APS Glossary, which defines the key concepts used throughout the framework and clarifies how they relate to one another. These definitions make explicit the conceptual structure underlying the APS approach.
Readers new to the site may wish to begin with the orientation articles below, which introduce the framework and explain how the material is organised.
Begin here
Choose the path that best fits how you want to explore the APS framework:
- APS — A Viability-Oriented Framework for Understanding Life — the central statement of the framework
- What Is APS? — a concise introduction to the framework
- Understanding APS — The Structure of the Framework — a guided overview of how the key ideas fit together
- APS — The One-Page Framework Map — a visual summary of the framework’s conceptual architecture
- APS Glossary — Why Definitions Matter — a guide to how key concepts are defined and used
If you are unsure where to start, begin with APS — A Viability-Oriented Framework for Understanding Life, then continue to What Is APS? and Understanding APS.