Freedom of Conscience as Inviolable Property

Sor Juana refused to let the Church dictate what she could think about theology, science, or her own spiritual path. She defended the sanctity of her inner life—her conscience, her questions, her spiritual autonomy—as territory no institution could rightfully invade. In Libertarian justice, freedom of conscience is not merely tolerance but property protection: your thoughts are yours alone, your moral convictions cannot be seized or transferred, your right to follow your conscience is inalienable. This grounds religious freedom, intellectual liberty, and moral agency in property language: it is not charity but justice to protect conscience from coercion. Sor Juana's life demonstrates that societies that attempt to control thought ultimately fail against the irreducible privacy of individual minds.