Epistemic Justice and Equal Standing

Sor Juana was denied epistemic standing: as a woman and a colonial subject, her ideas were expected to defer to male and ecclesiastical authority. Epistemic justice—the equal right to participate in knowledge-making and be taken seriously as a thinker—is central to libertarian rights. In a free society, property and rights are meaningless if one group is systematically discounted as knowers. Sor Juana demanded that her arguments be engaged on their merits, not dismissed by her gender. This concept challenges the denial of voice that accompanies social inequality. Applied to libertarian justice, epistemic justice means that property disputes, legal rights, and freedom claims must be adjudicated in forums where all parties are heard as rational agents. No system of justice can be legitimate if it systematically excludes entire categories of people from being believed or contributing to knowledge. Sor Juana's work shows that recognizing women as knowers was not a moral nicety but a prerequisite for actual freedom and fair dealing.