'the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.' --Google To simplistic or not simple enough?
It is too simple. The first half simply defines it in terms of its opposite. "Life is that which distinguishes living things from from non-living things." The middle half "[in]organic" is a little too specious. While true: all life we know is organic, that is not really a defining trait. It's like saying "life is ... smaller than a whale". The fact that it happens to be true doesn't make it a defining feature. The third half is a bit vague. Many will argue that fire can "reproduce", "grow", "consume" and "breathe".
