These permittes states of relative activity are made possible by the anatomical and functional organization of the nervous system, which, in turn, has evolved as a system subservient to the basic circularity of the living organizations, and, hence, embody an inescapable logic: that logic that allows for a match between the organization of the living system and the interactions into which it can enter without losing its identity. (NC 18)

An autopoietic system is a homeostatic system that has its own organization as the essential variable that it maintains constant through its operation. Therefore, all the unitary phenomena of an autopoietic system are constitutively subordinated to the maintenance of its autopoiesis. (CS 460)