Consent and Authority in Knowledge Production

Sor Juana's conflict with ecclesiastical authorities centered on a question of consent: Did church leaders have the right to interpret her words, direct her studies, and control the dissemination of her work without her agreement? She argued, implicitly, that they did not. In libertarian justice, authority is legitimate only when it rests on consent. No one can claim the right to direct your intellectual labor, interpret your words in ways you reject, or make decisions about your knowledge and work without your agreement. Sor Juana's insistence on her own authorial authority—her right to explain her intentions, defend her interpretations, control her publications—asserts a fundamental principle: legitimate governance in the intellectual realm requires consent. Her legacy defends intellectual freedom as rooted in the libertarian principle that authority divorced from consent is tyranny, whether exercised by church, state, or patriarch.