Epistolary Accountability: Dialogue Across Difference

Sor Juana's letters—to bishops, intellectuals, patrons, and critics—constitute acts of accountability and reasoned engagement. She answered her accusers directly, claiming space to be heard and understood. This epistolary practice offers a framework for animal ethics: we must practice accountability toward beings who cannot answer back, whose silence demands our speech on their behalf. Humans possess linguistic and political power animals lack; this asymmetry creates obligation, not permission for exploitation. By modeling dialogue that respects difference while insisting on being understood, Sor Juana suggests how we might listen to animal needs and interests through scientific evidence, behavioral observation, and empathetic attention. The concept transforms our relationship to animal voicelessness: their inability to articulate in human language does not discharge our responsibility to account for their welfare. Instead, it intensifies our obligation to represent their interests carefully and honestly, much as Sor Juana demanded respectful hearing despite those who dismissed her voice.