The Epistemic Right to Question Authority

Sor Juana's famous letter to the Bishop, defending her right to theological inquiry and rational debate, asserts the epistemic right to question authority—the liberty to examine claims critically regardless of source. Libertarian justice protects the right not merely to hold private opinions but to voice, test, and argue them publicly. Sor Juana challenged both church doctrine and secular authority through her writing, claiming that reason belongs to no institution. This concept recognizes that censorship, enforced orthodoxy, and suppression of dissent are forms of coercion that destroy libertarian freedom. The right to question is not negotiable; systems that punish intellectual challenge eliminate genuine consent and autonomy. Applied today, it opposes corporate and governmental claims to monopolize truth, including claims disguised as 'misinformation' policy or institutional expertise that forbids external scrutiny.