https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022519301922623
I know this is an old one, but the chain is REALLY fascinating especially a few of the recent cites. With regard to this one particularly, their proposed definition of life caught my eye:
In this formulation, life (a living individual) is defined as a network of inferior negative feedbacks (regulatory mechanisms) subordinated to (being at service of) a superior positive feedback (potential of expansion).
and I’m struggling to come up with a case where it isn’t true when we assume metabolic mechanisms for both loops. So way more interesting than that is it argues natural selection is and always has been an underlying chemical process inherent to life rather than the magically appearing mechanic we think of it as today.
Super fascinating perspective!