“When I play with my cat, who knows if she is not amusing herself more with me than I with her?”Michel de Montaigne · Eseuri · 1580 · II, 12
The relationship between human and animal is reciprocal, not hierarchical.
Montaigne questions human superiority over animals. The cat is not just a plaything; it has its own will and intention. He suggests reality is reciprocal: she plays with us, perhaps with even more pleasure. The example shows how easily we project a one-sided relationship when there is actually equal exchange.
Montaigne invites us to see playing with a cat not as a moment of dominance, but as a meeting between two beings who read each other's intentions. When you throw a ball and the cat catches it, you think you are training it, but it may see you as a hunting partner. This perspective changes how we relate to pets. They are no longer mere accessories, but beings with whom we negotiate a shared space every day. The next step is to ask what an ethics of this negotiation might look like.
Why it matters It teaches humility and respect for other beings, in a world where we often treat animals as tools. It opens our eyes to the complexity of interspecies relationships.