Epistemic Justice and Knowledge Authority

Sor Juana was systematically excluded from formal intellectual spaces not because her ideas lacked merit but because she was a woman, and later, because her intellectual ambitions threatened authority. Epistemic justice—the right to contribute to knowledge without credibility deficits imposed by prejudice—is crucial for secular identity. Atheists and secular people often face dismissal: their morality is questioned, their thinking is characterized as anger or rebellion, their arguments are heard as personal attacks on believers. This concept affirms that secular people have the epistemic standing to contribute to conversations about ethics, meaning, knowledge, and justice. Your non-belief does not disqualify you from being heard. Your secular framework offers valid insights. Sor Juana's insistence on her intellectual authority models reclaiming epistemic voice against systems designed to silence you.