Reimagining More-than-Human Charisma: Aesthetics, Affects, and Values

Dear Colleagues,

From eagles to elephants, penguins to pandas, and chimps to cheetahs, charismatic species are known to inspire environmental conservation by shaping public attitudes [1]. This Special Issue will focus on ecophilosophical approaches to understanding more-than-human charisma. Interdisciplinary philosophical engagements with charisma informed by theology, literary studies, communications, media theory, geography, and ecological science are especially welcome.

In an early reference to charisma’s ecological significance, biologist Reed Noss defined flagships as “popular, charismatic species that serve as symbols and rallying points for major conservation initiatives” ([2], 361). In the decades since Noss’ study, however, most research on more-than-human charisma has privileged large, terrestrial mammals perceived as beautiful, striking, or threatened [3].

For geographer Jamie Lorimer, “nonhuman charisma” comprises ecological, aesthetic, and corporeal dimensions. Lorimer’s integrative framework emphasizes the emotions and affects emerging through corporeal interchanges with nonhuman beings over time. Charisma, therefore, is marked by the feelings arising from multisensorial encounters with other life forms [4].

Nonetheless, Lorimer and other theorists of charisma continue to foreground the importance of “whole-bodied organisms” such as mammals and birds [4]. How might we begin to think more concertedly about the charisma of plants, fungi, insects, elements, networks, and the ecosystems of which they are part? The aim of this Special Issue is to advance interdisciplinary knowledge of more-than-human charisma through diverse contributions that span theory and practice while maintaining a focus on ecophilosophical analysis.

In this Special Issue, we welcome original research articles on areas including (but not limited to) the following:

• Aesthetic, affective, and corporeal dimensions of charisma in the natural world;
• Climate emergency, species loss, and more-than-human charisma;
• Ecophilosophical approaches to charisma including notions of enchantment, grace, haecceity, and thisness;
• Emerging theories of charisma in response to scientific understandings of non-human sentience;
• Indigenous people’s conceptions of more-than-human charisma;
• Influence of charismatic species on contemporary environmentalisms and biodiversity conservation models;
• More-than-human charisma as an environmental value;
• Non-human celebrities, ambassadors, flagships, and emissaries;
• Non-mammalian expressions of charisma including of plants, insects, fish, fungi, minerals, soil, water bodies, ecosystems, and elements;
• Role of human extensionism, personhood, and anthropomorphism in the construction of charismatic species.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, Dr John C. Ryan (john.c.ryan2025@gmail.com), or to the Philosophies Editorial Office (philosophies@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring their proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

References

[1] Ivan, J., et al. The role of species charisma in biological invasions. Front. Ecol. Environ. 2020, 18, 345–353. doi: 10.1002/fee.2195. 

[2] Noss, R. Indicators for monitoring biodiversity: A hierarchical approach. Conserv. Biol. 1990, 4, 355–364. 

[3] Albert, C.; Luque, G.; Courchamp, F. The twenty most charismatic species. PLoS One 2018, 13, 1–12. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199149. 

[4] Lorimer, J. Nonhuman charisma. EPD: Society and Space 2007, 25, 911–932. doi: 10.1068/d71j. 

Dr. John Charles Ryan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• aesthetics
• affect theory
• anthropomorphism
• charisma
• conservation
• corporeality
• ecology
• environmental philosophy
• plant humanities
• non-human ambassadors