The Right to Defend Your Own Authority and Credibility

When Sor Juana was attacked—for her intellectual ambitions, her theological positions, her assertion of rights—she responded vigorously, defending her reasoning and her authority to judge. She refused the demand to accept others' characterizations of her as overreaching or presumptuous. This reflects a libertarian right: you own your reputation and credibility in the same way you own your ideas. No one can unilaterally declare you unreliable, ignorant, or unfit to think. You have the right to defend your authority. This differs from mere free speech; it's about property in one's epistemic standing. Attacks on credibility—especially systematic ones targeting marginalized groups—constitute violations of this right. Sor Juana's vigorous self-defense is a model for asserting this property claim. In modern contexts, this principle protects whistleblowers, dissidents, and marginalized knowers from epistemic attacks designed to silence them. It supports the right to respond, to demand evidence, and to refuse false characterizations. It opposes systems of discrediting that work through reputation destruction. For libertarian justice, defending your authority over your own testimony is as fundamental as defending your material property.