Tagged Prey: Philosophical Thoughts

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The hunter raises the arrow, aiming not at an animal, but at a name, a symbol, an assigned “identity.” A label is like a brand, stamping the prey and instantly defining it—dangerous, edible, consumable. From that moment, the prey ceases to exist as a complete being and becomes a target, a conceptual object.

Philosophically, this is an extreme manifestation of subject and object. The hunter’s perspective shapes the world: once the label is attached, the prey’s actions, intentions, and even its suffering are confined within the logic of “hunting.” Its struggle is interpreted as “instinct,” its fear transformed into “expectation,” and its existential meaning is stripped away, leaving only its symbolic function.

This phenomenon does not occur only in forests or deserts; it also takes place within the complex ecology of human society. People label others, groups, or events—success and failure, good and evil, intelligence and ignorance—psychologically “hunting” them. Labels become extensions of power, allowing the subject to control, predict, and even manipulate the object. The prey’s resistance, however genuine, is often “rationalized” or rendered ineffective within the logic of the label.

Here, philosophical questions arise: when existence is labeled, does the subject still retain its full meaning? Can the prey’s free will break through the framework of the label? Or is the label itself an invisible shackle, eroding the essence of being through society, power, and cognition?

Under the label, the prey still breathes, still feels, yet its world no longer belongs to itself. Its meaning of existence is both assigned and stripped away. Even before the arrow is released, it is already within the conceptual range of the hunter.

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