In physics, spacetime typically functions as the general framework within which processes are described, even when its geometry is understood as dynamical. From this standpoint, organisation is analysed as something that unfolds within spatial and temporal coordinates.
APS adopts a different explanatory stance. It begins not with spacetime as the primary structure, but with viability-oriented organisation. On this view, spatial and temporal relations are not independent explanatory primitives. They are dimensions through which organisation is expressed, stabilised, and coordinated. Spatiotemporal descriptions arise from the organisational logic of the system, rather than the other way around.
This entails a reversal of explanatory priority:
- Physics: organisation is described within spacetime
- APS: spatiotemporal relations are specified relative to organisation
This reversal is inseparable from scale. Biological organisation is inherently scale-dependent: the spatial and temporal relations that matter are those that contribute to the persistence of the system at a given level of organisation. What counts as a relevant spatial configuration or temporal process is therefore defined relative to the system’s organisational dynamics, not fixed in advance.
Accordingly, space and time do not function as a neutral backdrop for biological explanation. Their explanatory significance is specified by the constraints, coordination, and viability conditions of the system.
This does not contradict physical accounts of spacetime. It clarifies that in biology, spatiotemporal structure derives its explanatory role from the organisation of living activity, rather than from an independently given framework.