Intellectual Property as Self-Ownership

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz defended her right to study, write, and publish despite institutional and patriarchal constraints, treating her intellectual work as inseparable from her autonomy. In libertarian justice, intellectual property emerges as a direct expression of self-ownership: what you create with your mind belongs to you. Sor Juana's fierce protection of her library, her written arguments, and her right to pursue knowledge without permission establishes a foundation for understanding IP not as a privilege granted by authority, but as a natural right derived from individual labor and creativity. This concept refuses the notion that knowledge or ideas can be claimed by institutions, churches, or states simply by virtue of power. For libertarian justice, this means recognizing that freedom and property rights extend into the realm of thought, expression, and creative production—domains where Sor Juana fought daily.