Intellectual Right to Health Literacy

Sor Juana's life exemplified the conviction that intellectual engagement is a human right, not a privilege. Applied to healthcare justice, this concept asserts that patients possess the right to comprehend their diagnoses, treatment options, and medical conditions in their own terms. Healthcare systems must provide accessible, non-paternalistic education that respects patients' intellectual agency rather than reducing them to passive recipients. Sor Juana resisted the silencing of her voice; similarly, healthcare justice requires dismantling systems that silence patient understanding. When providers communicate in jargon that excludes, they commit epistemic injustice. This concept demands that health literacy programs honor diverse ways of knowing and support patients in becoming informed participants in their own care rather than subjects of medical authority.