Bestiaries of the More-Than-Humane

A Workshop Guide and Invitation to Participate

Through field observations and laboratory experimentation, biologists have shown that nonhuman primates evaluate fairness in terms similar to humans, and that rats manifest humanlike reciprocity in their social arrangements. Based on this evidence, researchers have made persuasive arguments that nonhuman animals are ethical beings.

Might some predilections of nonhuman species be more ethically sophisticated than our own? Might their lifeways reveal areas in which humans have never even considered the need for principled behavior? Until very recently in geological time, hominids were quite limited in their habitat; we’re imperfectly evolved to manage the planet we now dominate, as current planetary conditions make readily apparent. Other species have abundant knowledge and experience that we lack. They offer a plethora of ways of being that we’d be foolish to neglect. For instance, what might humans learn from the collectivist lifeways of termite colonies? What morals might be gleaned from the symbioses of lichens?

More-than-human ethical principles have the potential to be transformational. They can inspire greater goodness in people and align values across taxa for the greater good of all on a local and planetary level.

Taking inspiration from medieval bestiaries, this workshop is designed to explore lessons in righteousness learned from nonhuman creatures, providing a space for creative expression of the more-than-humane. Participants are invited to evaluate the lifeways of animals and plants and fungi they know personally, deriving guidance that might be applied to the human domain. Each participant narrates and illustrates what one of the creatures has to teach in a small hand-crafted book, using standard arts-and-crafts supplies and/or scrap materials.

Derived from workshops guided by Jonathon Keats, the instructions that follow are intended only to be suggestive. Although these instructions have been written for groups, individuals are equally welcome to participate.

All participants are invited to contribute their bestiaries to the Library of the More-Than-Humane in digital or physical form by following this link. Over the long term, the ethical principles will serve as a critical resource for research in fields ranging from philosophy to anthropology to futures studies, and may inspire new political and legal systems that reflect and protect the values of nature.