Identity Beyond Instrumental Value

Sor Juana asserted her identity and worth despite systems that valued her only for specific instrumental purposes—as a curiosity, as decorative intelligence, as vehicle for male glory. She insisted on her existence as a full self, deserving consideration beyond utility. This principle, extended to animals, challenges our relentless instrumentalization of them. We categorize animals entirely by use: livestock, wildlife, pests, pets. These categories obscure individual identity. A cow is not "dairy production unit"—she is a being with preferences, relationships, personality. A wild deer is not merely ecosystem manager or hunting trophy. A rat is not simply research tool. Industrial animal agriculture exemplifies total instrumentalization—animals engineered for maximum output, their bodies designed for human purposes, their minds irrelevant. But identity cannot be reduced to function. Every animal, like every person, has inherent identity distinct from utility. Sor Juana's intellectual legacy demands we recognize the being before the function, the individual before the category. This shifts animal ethics from efficiency questions (how to exploit most sustainably) to dignity questions (how to honor beings as themselves).