Abstract
This essay examines how language marginalizes animals by reducing them to “it,” obscuring their cognition, agency, communication, empathy, and giftedness. Such linguistic marginalization intersects with metaphors and colloquialisms that demean both women and animals and is reinforced by anthropocentric philosophical and theological traditions. While Thomistic thought has often emphasized human superiority, Thomas Aquinas also presents animals as participants in God’s community of creation who reveal divine goodness and glory. Drawing on animal reciprocity and feminist animal care, particularly entangled empathy, this essay proposes an ethic that recognizes animals in their wholeness and uniqueness. Naming becomes a countercultural practice that resists demeaning representations of animals.
Recommended Citation
Adan, Gaizel Arguelles
(2026)
"Are Animals “It”? Restoring Animals in our Language,"
Landas: Vol. 38:
No.
2, Article 2.
Available at:
https://archium.ateneo.edu/landas/vol38/iss2/2