 Systems-theoretical and organizational accounts often highlight the functional roles of constraints, autonomy, and causal closure of the processes of self-maintenance (Moreno &amp; Mossio 2015; Wolkenhauer &amp; Hofmeyr 2007). While also stressing the utility of the search for general principles, some prefer the term organizing principles instead of design principles (Green &amp; Wolkenhauer 2013; Mesarović et al. 2004). This choice of terminology signals the view that understanding living systems requires a systems-theoretical approach in a broader sense than cybernetics. An intriguing question in this context is whether a different kind of formal or mathematical framework is required—one that is adapted to biology rather than to engineering or physics (Bich &amp; Damiano 2008; Gramelsberger 2017; Rosen 1991).