They tend to see these Others as inferior, bestial beings and they regard them with much the same hatred and contempt they have for nature in general. We see some of nature in ourselves, too, our bodies, our health, our sexuality, and the other physical aspects of living, and of course we are uncomfortable about it. Our culture gives us a lot of negative views about animal nature, so we have a great deal of negative views about the animal nature we see in ourselves. We must heal our blind spot for animals. Only a handful of intellectuals seem to understand how essential animals are to human beings, how they are the most vital beings in nature the soul and the moving parts of nature.
Animals represent and symbolize the various features and forces of nature.
When seen as kin, as they once were, animals gave us a crucial bond and a sense of belonging to the living world. Currently, however, the animal part of the Nature Question is kept on the back burner through ridicule and trivialization as well as open hostility toward those who raise it. The Animal Question is regarded as peripheral, a silly distraction from efforts to address what environmental heavyweights think is the more important Nature Question. I submit that the Animal Question is central and fundamental to the Nature Question. We simply will not be able to come to terms with nature unless we come to terms with animals and animality, because, for the human mind and culture, animals are the most important part of nature.