Life beyond mechanics

Exploring systems concepts for living systems often begins with a question posed by Capra and Luisi (2014): What is life? Biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy (2015) criticized mechanistic definitions, arguing that qualitative laws of nature reveal “little [about] the ultimate reality of nature” (p. 156). Similarly, Capra and Luisi, drawing from a deep ecology perspective emphasizing the interdependence of all phenomena, rejected reductionist scientific approaches that dissect complex systems into quantitative parts (p. 10). Both scholars insisted that systems must be understood through the qualitative relationships of their components within their broader context.

Bertalanffy (2015) argued that the distinction between living and non-living systems lies in process, not mechanics. Living systems exhibit order through chemical and physical processes that enable persistence, development, growth, reproduction, and other biological functions. He noted that mechanical descriptions fail to define life adequately because they overlook how organization emerges, self-regulates, and interacts with the environment (pp. 139-140).