The Argument From Silence and Exclusion

Sor Juana's very existence as a published, recognized intellectual was radical: women were excluded from universities, prohibited from certain writings, and pressured toward silence. She argued implicitly and explicitly that this silencing was unjust, not merely inconvenient. The argument from silence recognizes that property and freedom are incomplete rights if individuals lack the practical ability to exercise them. If women cannot own, publish, or trade their intellectual work due to systematic exclusion, property rights remain formally available but materially hollow. This concept demands that libertarian justice examine not only law but structure: which groups face barriers to participation, voice, and exchange? Removing these barriers—not through state mandate but through dismantling coercive exclusion—is essential to genuine freedom.