Epistemic Justice in Knowledge-Making

Sor Juana was systematically denied credibility as a knowledge-maker because she was a woman and, later, perceived as theologically suspect. Epistemic justice names the injustice of being excluded from authority over truth. For secular and atheist individuals, epistemic injustice operates when religious claims are treated as automatically true while secular reasoning is dismissed as nihilistic or inferior. This concept asks: Whose knowledge counts? Who is permitted to speak truth? Secular thinkers, scientists, and philosophers have historically been silenced or misrepresented by religious institutions. Sor Juana's fight for her intellectual credibility illuminates this struggle. Applying epistemic justice to atheist identity means actively validating secular moral reasoning, scientific understanding, and non-religious sources of wisdom. It means building platforms, institutions, and communities where secular voices are centered. It recognizes that atheism is not an absence of knowledge but a different epistemology—one grounded in evidence, reason, and naturalistic explanation.