The Entangled Web: Embodied Freedom as a Framework for Multispecies Flourishing

This paper argues that dominant anthropocentric ideologies, rooted in autonomy and human exceptionalism, have systematically denied agency and well-being to the more-than-human world, contributing to ecological degradation and species extinction. In response, I develop embodied freedom as a theoretical and ethical framework that redefines freedom as relational, interdependent, and materially grounded. Drawing on insights from multiple disciplines, this paper proposes a relational ethics that recognizes the shared vulnerability and agency of all beings, challenging the prevailing notion that freedom requires detachment from constraint. By reframing freedom through multispecies entanglements rather than human sovereignty, this paper offers a pathway toward a more just and sustainable vision of multispecies flourishing in an era of planetary crisis.