Michael Pollan 'Essay' An Animal's Place

Anthropocentrism—the belief that humanity is the central element of the universe, is a concept that Michael Pollan grapples with in his essay “An Animal’s Place.” Written in response to famous philosopher Peter Singer’s position on animal rights, Pollan builds upon Singer’s own positon while adding in his own personal cautions about Singer’s extremism. He calls to mind many common positions that omnivores commonly use to defend their habits: one of these is that animals kill each other, so why is it wrong when we do it. He shows that we don’t want to lower ourselves to the animal kingdom: “…do you really want to base your morality on the natural order? Murder and rape are natural, too. Besides, humans don’t need to kill other creatures in order

to survive; animals do. Though if my cat, Otis, is any guide, animals sometimes kill for sheer pleasure” (61). He clearly shows that this argument has some fundamental flaws, but he also added in an interesting caveat. As he describes the cat, it brought to mind Homer, a newborn feral cat my uncle found trapped in the wire fencing behind his house. Despite all odds, Homer survived and now enjoys life as a domesticated feral cat, whose greatest pleasures in life include leaving dismembered bird bones on the front porch and mauling the newborn bunnies that happen to cross his borders. One question I had, thinking about the savage monster who purrs at my feet while biting my toes, was: can an animal ever be truly domesticated, or is domestication merely a label we give when an animal has reached an appropriate stage of subservience? Pollan attempts to reconcile an omnivore’s conscious desire to do justice to animals while not condemning his own practice of eating meat. In offering the reader a third option, Pollan manipulates Darwinian Theory to his advantage, in that he reconciles for us the cold practicality of evolution with the human concept of dignity and compassion.
As humans, we are generally inclined toward the notion of being the only one’s capable of using and abusing animals; Pollan argues that this is not the case.

There is a lot of heavy emphasis on evolution, and its role in gaining perspective in the rights of animals. In fact, one of Pollan’s most potent arguments for disagreeing with Singer is his view of domestication: “Rather, domestication happened when a small handful of especially opportunistic species discovered through Darwinian trial and error that they were more likely to survive and prosper in an alliance with humans than on their own” (64). Pollan does not care for the belief that humans—the evolved playground bullies—have constantly used their dominant status to forcibly subjugate “inferior” creatures. He describes the relationship between humans and animals as mutualism, an evolutionary concept in which two species maintain a parasitic relationship in which neither species is at a disadvantage. Yes, the pigs do end up in my morning bacon and the cows in my JJ’s hamburger. However, animals didn’t receive an unjust bargain. Remember Homer, the feral housecat. Some may argue that Homer’s actions are disgusting; he is a housecat and therefore does not have the same need as a feral cat to hunt for his next meal. However, others argue that Homer’s actions are the result of his genetic predisposition for hunting and survival; furthermore, my uncle and Homer have renegotiated the evolutionary deal Homer’s kin have had for thousands of years. Homer is given shelter and a steady food supply, and he keeps away the rats, mice, and disease-ridden birds (although I wouldn’t mind if he would leave the small bunnies off the kill list). This is Pollan’s concept of “utilitarianism.” The utilitarian perspective, from which Pollan argues, indicates that an animal’s desire to hunt, and our not dissimilar desire to eat, is neither evil nor justified. It is just an instinctive, and arguably cold, method of using our given

skills to achieve our basic needs. This is the “freedom” that Pollan constantly refers to. The freedom to choose how we express our genetic birthright, whether as a top-chain human or an opportunistic cat.