Cultivating Virtues of Restraint and Care

Sor Juana's writings cultivated virtues—intellectual honesty, courage, charity—as practices of character development. She understood ethics as tied to becoming a certain kind of person. This virtue approach enriches animal ethics beyond policy debates. Genuine change requires cultivating virtues: humility about human superiority, restraint in consumption, compassion toward suffering, attentiveness to other beings' needs. These virtues develop through practice. Choosing plant-based meals becomes a practice of restraint and care. Noticing animals in your environment becomes a practice of attentiveness. Protecting habitat becomes a practice of stewardship. Sor Juana's example shows that intellectual and moral development are inseparable from daily practices. We become ethical through repeated choices and cultivated dispositions. An animal ethics focused on virtue asks: What kind of person do I become through my choices? What virtues am I strengthening or weakening? Rather than merely following rules, we develop character aligned with moral reality. This approach transforms animal ethics from burden to human flourishing, making us more thoughtful, restrained, and genuinely connected. Sor Juana's emphasis on habituation and intellectual growth as intertwined applies directly to becoming a person capable of authentic relationship with the non-human world.