Life as Self-Regulating Identity Under Change

This white paper introduces a domain-independent structural definition of life within the broader framework of identity as preserved coherence under change. In this framework, systems persist as identities when successive configurations maintain sufficient relational overlap within tolerance limits. While this condition explains stability and continuity, it is shown to be insufficient to distinguish living from non-living systems. The paper introduces an additional structural condition: living systems are characterised by internally constrained transformation, such that the system contributes to maintaining its own coherence under change. This is formalised through: - internal dependence of transformation, - restriction of accessible transformation space to coherence-preserving configurations, - and the capacity to carry and maintain tolerance conditions. From this follows that living systems are partially causal for their own configuration trajectory. Under increasing configurational pressure, identity cannot always be preserved within a single trajectory, leading to distributed identity and replication as structural consequences. Meaning is derived as a functional effect of coherent expansion under increasing configuration space, rather than as an intrinsic or teleological property. The framework is: - domain-independent, - non-teleological, - structurally defined, - and explicitly falsifiable. This paper is part of a broader research programme formalising identity, stability, and meaning as aspects of preserved coherence under change.