The Right to Exist Beyond Use

Sor Juana insisted on her intellectual and spiritual value despite pressure to justify her existence through service to others—as nun, servant, or commodity. She claimed the right to exist for her own sake, to pursue knowledge because it was her nature to do so. This principle extends urgently to animals, whose worth has been entirely instrumentalized: cows for milk, chickens for eggs, wolves for fur, dolphins for entertainment. Industrial systems reduce animal existence to extractable value, denying what Sor Juana claimed for herself: the right to be oneself simply because being exists. This concept rejects utilitarian calculations that permit animal suffering if benefits to humans exceed costs. Instead, it asserts that animals possess inherent dignity, their existence valuable in itself regardless of human need or pleasure. Extending Sor Juana's philosophy means transforming laws, economies, and practices to recognize this inherent worth. Protected spaces where animals live unmolested, legal personhood frameworks recognizing animal rights, and economic systems not dependent on animal exploitation become expressions of this principle: some beings exist beyond use, and justice requires we honor that existence.