Institutional Neutrality and Intellectual Freedom

Sor Juana faced an institution—the Catholic Church—that demanded she align her inquiries with its doctrines. She argued for the Church's role in spiritual guidance while defending her right to pursue science, mathematics, and philosophy independently. She modeled institutional neutrality: the Church should not police what people think about physics or literature. In Libertarian justice, institutions with coercive power must not weaponize that power to enforce intellectual conformity. When the state, church, or academy use their authority to suppress ideas or mandate beliefs, they violate the freedom of inquiry fundamental to voluntary society. Sor Juana's framework suggests that powerful institutions must stay neutral on contested intellectual questions—they can provide services, but not thought-control. This preserves space for diverse inquiry and prevents monopolies on truth-claims. Libertarian justice requires that institutions remain tools for voluntary association, not engines of ideological enforcement.