Epistemic Justice and the Right to Know Oneself

Sor Juana claimed the right to interpret scripture, philosophy, and science—domains typically reserved for male ecclesiastical authority. She asserted her own epistemic authority: the right to know, to interpret, to be believed about what she understands. Epistemic justice means that people from marginalized or non-dominant cultures have the right to be recognized as credible authorities on their own experience, heritage, and identity. Too often, outsiders claim authority to define what cultural identity 'really' means, what traditions are 'authentic,' or who legitimately belongs. Someone is told their accent is 'wrong,' their family traditions are 'not real,' or their identity claims are inauthentic—by people outside their culture. This injustice denies epistemic authority. Sor Juana's example demonstrates that claiming the right to know—to interpret your own tradition, validate your own experience, define your own identity—is essential to justice. In multicultural contexts, epistemic justice means trusting people's self-knowledge and recognizing that insiders possess irreplaceable wisdom about their own identities.