Solitude, Community, and Interdependence

Sor Juana sought cell time for study and reflection—solitude enabling her intellectual development—while also participating in convent community. She understood flourishing as requiring both withdrawal and connection. This concept extends to animal needs: creatures require both individual autonomy and social belonging. Many animals are intensely social—elephants, primates, wolves, dolphins, corvids—yet industrial systems isolate them or deny natural social structures. Others are solitary and suffer in enforced proximity. The concept demands attention to what each creature requires: some thrive in herds, some in family units, some in solitude punctuated by mating. True moral consideration accounts for these varied needs rather than imposing uniform conditions. Additionally, the concept recognizes human-animal interdependence: we are not isolated moral agents confronting animal others, but participants in ecosystems, food webs, and evolutionary histories. Our flourishing is entangled with theirs. This challenges both extreme separation (animals as completely other) and subsumption (animals as mere resources). Instead, it proposes ethical cohabitation: recognizing legitimate solitude and community needs across species while acknowledging our mutual dependence.