Animalism

AbstractAmong your closest associates is a certain human animal – a living, breathing, organism. You see it when you look in the mirror (go ahead; take a look). When it is sick, you don't feel too well. Where it goes, you go. And, one thinks, where you go, it must follow. Indeed, you can make it move through sheer force of will. You bear, in short, an important and intimate relation to this, your animal. So too rest of us with our animals. Animalism says that this relation is nothing short of identity. According to animalists, we do not only coincide with or constitute or inhabit or otherwise hang out with these close associates, our animals: we are them. In this article, I offer an opinionated take on what animalism might be and situate it against contemporary rivals. Then, I outline a simple case for animalism. Finally, I sketch non‐standard routes for animalists to take in light of standard challenges. My goal in all of this is to open up some new avenues of animalist thinking.