Epistemic Humility in Consumption

Sor Juana's intellectual honesty included acknowledging boundaries of knowledge—a rare virtue in her era. Applied to ethical consumption, epistemic humility means recognizing that no purchase is perfectly ethical and that we cannot fully trace every impact of our choices. This prevents paralyzing perfectionism or self-righteous certainty. Instead of claiming moral purity, the ethically humble consumer makes the best choices available with incomplete information, remains open to learning, and adjusts practices accordingly. This concept resists both cynical resignation ('nothing is ethical so why try') and smugness ('I have figured out perfect consumption'). Sor Juana's model teaches that intellectual rigor includes admitting ignorance. Ethical consumption becomes an ongoing practice of increasing awareness and improvement rather than a destination of perfection, grounded in honest assessment of our actual knowledge and limitations.