Consent and Authority in Knowledge Exchange

Sor Juana lived under ecclesiastical authority that demanded obedience to approved doctrine and discouraged critical inquiry. She resisted this claim to dominion over her conscience and intellectual life, arguing that authentic knowledge requires free exploration, not coerced conformity. In libertarian justice, this becomes the principle of intellectual non-aggression: no institution—church, state, or academy—may impose beliefs, suppress questions, or punish intellectual independence as if minds were property to be managed. Consent in knowledge exchange means that teaching, learning, and the communication of ideas must be voluntary on both sides. Sor Juana's response to her censors demonstrates how institutional authority over thought violates property rights in one's own faculties. True freedom in property and rights depends on protecting the space where individuals form, test, and revise their own understanding without coercion. This concept applies directly to debates about academic freedom, scientific inquiry, and the right to pursue truth.