biophilian.

1857 J. M. Galloway tr. G. H. G. Jahr Hartmann's Special Therapeutics: 3rd Vol. ii. i. 287 (heading) Hypochondria. Melancholia. Hypochondriaca. Biophilia... Descriptions of the disease.

1892 D. H. Tuke Dict. Psychol. Med. I. 135/1 Biophilia, the instinct of self-preservation common to man and the lower animals.

1964 E. Fromm Heart of Man 13 That malignant form of destructiveness, necrophilia, which is a true love of death as opposed to biophilia which is the love of life.

1973 E. Fromm Anat. Human Destructiveness (1974) xii. 366 Biophilia..is understood to refer to a biologically normal impulse, while necrophilia is understood as a psycho-pathological phenomenon.

1992 Jrnl. Amer. Acad. Psychoanal. 20 233 Biophilia corresponds to necrophilia as its opposite.

2006 Guardian (Nexis) 30 May (Educ. section) 12 According to White, the behaviour of the over-45s is an indication that biophilia develops with age.

1979 E. O. Wilson in N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 14 Jan. 43/3 Our deepest needs stem from ancient and still poorly understood biological adaptations. Among them is biophilia: the rich, natural pleasure that comes from being surrounded by living organisms.

1994 Sci. Amer. Apr. 21/1 Gould derided the biophilia theory, arguing that humans show as great a propensity for destruction of life as for preservation of it.

2006 M. Pollan Omnivore's Dilemma viii. 128 Our inclination toward grass, which has the force of a tropism, is frequently cited as a prime example of ‘biophilia’.

1932 R. C. Macfie Faiths & Heresies of Poet & Scientist 37 The possible explanation that, at the time life appeared, there were in existence biophilic elements now defunct.

1983 M. S. Peck People of Lie (1985) ii. 43 Distinguishing it from a ‘biophilic’ person, one who appreciates and fosters the variety of life forms and the uniqueness of the individual.

1996 New Scientist 12 Oct. 49/1 Emotional, biophilic bonds between humans and wild creatures—ruddy ducks, say—are part of local ecologies.