An understanding of acute allograft rejection has eluded investigators for many years, despite major research efforts in this area. This understanding may not be achievable, given the current philosophic approach to the study of immune processes. An alternative approach, which is outlined here, would require investigators to develop an appreciation for the strengths and limitations of complex, adaptive networks like the interdigitated inflammatory, immune, and physiologic processes that are at work in transplanted allografts. This alternative approach is offered in the hope that it will provide new insights regarding the nature of immune responses and will be helpful in the design and interpretation of future studies of acute rejection and other transplant-related biologic processes.