Self-Ownership Through Intellectual Labor

Sor Juana's assertion that her mind and pen were her own—even when denied formal office or institutional recognition—grounds libertarian self-ownership in intellectual practice. She understood that to be denied the right to use one's intellect is a form of bondage. In libertarian philosophy, self-ownership means control over one's body and faculties, including the capacity to think and create. Sor Juana's poetry, theological arguments, and scientific observations were acts of claiming ownership of her own reasoning. This concept extends property rights beyond material goods to the foundational truth that individuals possess themselves and therefore possess the fruits of their mental labor. Her defiance shows self-ownership is not abstract theory but lived resistance.