The Right to Self-Determination

Sor Juana's lifelong struggle for intellectual autonomy—her refusal to abandon her studies despite church pressure—illuminates animal self-determination. She recognized that freedom means pursuing one's own purposes, not merely surviving under constraint. Animals demonstrate this drive constantly: migration patterns, mate selection, territorial behavior, and social bonds all reflect autonomous choice. Sor Juana's tradition insists we honor this agency rather than treating animals as resources designed for human purposes. When we farm animals in confinement, breed them to human specification, or exploit their labor, we deny the self-determination she valued so fiercely. This concept reframes animal liberation as recognizing creatures' right to direct their own lives according to their nature, not our convenience. It transforms ethics from charity toward animals into respect for their fundamental autonomy.