More-Than-Human

More-than-human, adjective

1. Extending beyond human-centered perspectives
2. Including non-human life forms, systems, and actors
3. Recognizing the interconnected nature of human and non-human worlds

Understanding More-Than-Human

The term "more-than-human" emerged from environmental philosopher David Abram's work "The Spell of the Sensuous" (1996), which explored how human perception and consciousness are embedded in a larger ecological context. This perspective challenges anthropocentric worldviews by recognizing humans as part of, rather than separate from, broader ecological and technological systems.

Donna Haraway's "When Species Meet" (2008) further developed this framework, examining how humans are fundamentally entangled with other species and technologies. This work reveals how our understanding of "human" already implies relationships with countless other beings and systems.

Theoretical Framework

Ecological Thinking

Val Plumwood's ecological philosophy demonstrates how the separation of human from nature underlies many contemporary environmental crises. More-than-human approaches seek to heal this separation by recognizing the agency and importance of non-human actors in our world.

Multispecies Ethnography

Anna Tsing's "The Mushroom at the End of the World" (2015) shows how human and non-human lives are intertwined in complex ecological and economic systems. This approach reveals how seemingly human activities always involve collaboration with other species and systems.

Technological Entanglement

Katherine Hayles examines how technology creates new forms of more-than-human agency. Her work shows how computational systems become active participants in shaping our world, blurring traditional boundaries between human and machine intelligence.

Design Implications

More-than-human design expands consideration beyond human users to include:

• Other forms of life and their needs
• Ecological systems and their health
• Non-human actors and their agency
• Long-term environmental impacts
• Interspecies relationships

This approach fundamentally challenges traditional human-centered design methods, requiring new tools and frameworks for understanding and creating within complex ecological systems.

Contemporary Applications

Recent work by designers and researchers demonstrates how more-than-human approaches can inform practical design:

Environmental Design

Ron Wakkary's "Things We Could Design" (2021) shows how design can create meaningful interactions between human and non-human actors, fostering more sustainable relationships with our environment.

Digital Systems

Laura Forlano's research examines how more-than-human perspectives can inform the design of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence, recognizing these technologies as active participants in social and ecological networks.

Further Reading

• Abram, D. (1996). The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World. Vintage.
• Haraway, D. (2008). When Species Meet. University of Minnesota Press.
• Tsing, A. (2015). The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press.
• Plumwood, V. (2002). Environmental Culture: The Ecological Crisis of Reason. Routledge.
• Wakkary, R. (2021). Things We Could Design: For More Than Human-Centered Worlds. MIT Press.

Related Concepts

• Ecological Design
• Multispecies Design
• Posthumanism
• Environmental Philosophy
• Bioinclusive Design
• Systems Thinking
• Ecological Intelligence