On bioabilities: a new approach for ecological thinking and action

The article submits the notion of bioability as a new lens for ecological theorization and ecocriticism. Bioability can be defined as the subjective counterpart to biodiversity: it consists of all action potentials that increase the flourishing of living others, both human and non-human. The bioabilities approach intersects the philosophy of biology, biosemiotics, environmental ethics and social science, revealing how such capacities have emerged in evolutionary developments, but also how they can be further cultivated by subjects who become aware of them. We review how phenomena like symbiosis, the holobiont, ecological development and plasticity all resonate with bioabilities. Ultimately, the bioability notion is made possible by a consideration of the biosphere as a crucial domain of social life. Expanding on these ideas, bioabilities can be revealed as also having ethical and political import. Notably, an ethical perspective grounded in the bioabilities approach is demonstrated here to be compatible with contemporary evolutionary theory. In terms of ecological action and sustainability research, bioabilities enable us to intertwine more deeply agency, ethics, well-being and the practices of coexistence.