Part of the series: APS and Contemporary Theories

This article examines a major framework in biology or cognition and shows why it does not fully account for life as viability-oriented, constraint-closed organisation. For the positive account, see What Is Life?.

Control and Regulation

Control theory explains how systems maintain stability through feedback.

This is central to physiology.

The Limitation

Control systems:

  • do not define their own identity
  • do not sustain their own conditions
  • do not exist for themselves

Regulation Is Not Agency

Regulation can occur without:

  • self-maintenance
  • existential stakes
  • internally grounded normativity

The APS Perspective

Control describes how systems regulate.

APS explains why regulation matters.

Key Point

Control theory explains regulation within living systems, but life is defined by the activity through which systems sustain their own existence.