Knowledge Production and Animal Subjects

Sor Juana wrote extensively about the ethics of knowledge-seeking, questioning whether all forms of inquiry were justified and who bore the costs. She examined curiosity as both virtue and potential vice. Applied to animal research: we use millions of animals annually to produce human knowledge and test human products, but animals cannot consent to this knowledge extraction. Sor Juana's framework asks us to examine this system critically. Is the knowledge gained proportionate to the harm inflicted? Who profits, and who pays? Are there alternative methodologies that don't require animal subjects? Her insistence on intellectual rigor combined with moral responsibility suggests that valid knowledge should not require cruelty. This concept advocates for shifting research practices toward non-animal methods, developing computational models, using human tissue samples, and reconceiving what counts as rigorous science. Sor Juana's own empirical observations, conducted through observation rather than exploitation, model how inquiry can be thorough without requiring captive subjects.