Jacques Derrida raises some interesting issues in “The Animal Therefore That I Am,” things that I could relate to from my own experience. Several years ago, I got into an argument with a friend who happened to be vegan. In his view, any consumption of animal products was unethical and was linked to some form of animal cruelty. I disagreed with him, saying there is a way to fight for animal rights and denounce animal cruelty without ignoring the complexities involved in it. He considered animal rights activism as valid only when one fully stopped consuming anything related to animals. I advocated targeting such issues as the meat industry that directly caused harm to animals. As is evident by now, we could not see eye to eye on the issue.

Derrida’s words on animals, winding and complicated as they might be, made me think of that episode with my friend. Derrida refers to industrial farming that started with the Industrial Revolution. This was accompanied by genetic modification of animals in which the genes of animals are modified in order to create the versions of animals that best serve the purpose of humans. Humans, therefore, have created a “human versus animal” binary in which humans feel the liberty to inflict all kinds of “monstrosity” (as Derrida describes it) on animals. Humans lump all non-humans into the category of “animals,” making a distinction between themselves and all non-humans that seemingly gives them the license to do whatever they like to animals.

I don’t know if it’s an overstretch to link this lumping together of all non-humans to Saussure’s idea of language being arbitrary. The way we classify humans based on characteristics and qualities is completely arbitrary and invented by humans, causing us to completely overlook the fact that animals, like us, have the ability to feel, perhaps thus making it easier for us to treat animals the way we do, made worse by the rise of industrial capitalism and the progress in science and technology that have enabled us to treat animals in ways that are cruel and monstrous.

This makes me reflect on the conversation I had with my friend all those years ago. Let us say it is only the meat industry or the fur industry that are examples of animal cruelty. However, the way Derrida discusses the feelings of animals makes me question some of my own stances on this. What constitutes animal cruelty and what does not? Are the degrees and extents of animal cruelty not something decided by humans too? Do we really take the animals into consideration when thinking about animals? What can we do to make sure that animals are being treated properly?

But then again… is humans consuming animals not part of the entire ecosystem? After all, if I came across a large carnivorous animal in the woods, would I not become its next meal?  How does one reach an ethical position in which animal rights are protected and the evolution of humans is equally understood?

We need to keep grappling with these questions.