Interspecies healing through natural history: On Thomas Lowe Fleischner's 'spiral of offering'

Abstract

Thomas Lowe Fleischner has revived the ancient practice of natural history within academia, especially as a teacher of biology. While natural history naturally aligns with biology, its oerings as described by Fleischner are not limited to this scientific discipline alone. In particular, natural history can support teachers and students within interspecies health education in at least three ways. First, by providing a predisciplinary grounding of their work, involving a reverent attuning to the more-than-human world unbound by the restrictions and expectations of disciplinary thinking. Second, by helping us move away from an isolated understanding of health to a more holistic conception of reciprocal healing. Third, by helping us to cultivate attentiveness to the more-than-human world alongside (and inseparable from) one’s inner self. As Fleischner argued, the practice of natural history honours the interdependence of humans with the more- than-human world, and by becoming a naturalist, possibilities for genuine interspecies healing emerge.