APS is a conceptual framework for understanding life as viability-oriented, constraint-closed organisation.
This page provides a concise overview of the core ideas. For a fuller account of how these concepts form a unified explanatory system, see Understanding APS — The Structure of the Framework. For a formal account of the framework’s conceptual architecture, see The Core Structure of APS — How the Framework Fits Together.
For a deeper account of how scientific frameworks organise explanation, see Explanatory Grammar.
To see how APS develops this framework into a structured account of biological explanation, follow:
→ How APS Explains Life — A Two-Step Guide
Agency
Agency, in the APS sense, does not require intentions, beliefs, or conscious states. It refers to the capacity of a system to sustain and regulate the conditions necessary for its continued existence. This is biological agency at its most fundamental.
Process
APS treats processes as ontologically fundamental. Systems are not entities that merely undergo processes; they are process—dynamic organisations that give rise to relatively stable structures. This perspective reshapes how we understand persistence, identity, and change.
Scale
Scale is a constitutive dimension of both agency and process. What counts as an agent, what counts as stable, and what counts as a process depends on the scale of organisation. APS treats scale not as a hierarchy of levels, but as a continuous dimension across which processes are coordinated.
Together, agency, process, and scale form the core explanatory grammar of APS. They are not independent components, but co-constitutive dimensions through which living systems are organised and understood.
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