What distinguishes a living organism from a complex machine? One answer, proposed by various philosophers of biology, is normativity: organisms, unlike machines, have interests. They can be harmed or benefited. They distinguish, in their very functioning, between states that are better or worse for them.
Living Value Theory takes this seriously as a theoretical resource. If biological normativity is real — if organisms genuinely evaluate their environments and respond accordingly — then value is not a human invention imposed on an indifferent nature. It is a feature of life as such.
This does not mean that human values are simply biological. The transactive structures through which human value operates are far more complex than anything found in simpler organisms. But it does mean that human value theory must be continuous with, not discontinuous from, a theory of biological normativity.