The Privatization of Conscience

Sor Juana's public defense of her right to private intellectual conviction—her refusal to allow the Church to conscript her conscience into unanimous doctrinal compliance—establishes conscience as private property. This concept distinguishes between public behavior (which may be regulated through law) and internal belief (which is inviolable private property). Institutional authorities demanded not merely external obedience but internal assent: Sor Juana must not merely appear to submit but genuinely believe, genuinely abandon her intellectual pursuits. This totalizing demand exposes how power seeks to colonize the interior self. Libertarian justice protects the privatization of conscience: individuals retain ownership of their beliefs even when external circumstances force compliance with institutional rules. Sor Juana's distinction between what she must do and what she genuinely believes articulates the boundary of legitimate institutional authority. Her concept of conscience as inviolable private property becomes foundational to any theory of freedom that resists total institutional capture.