The Right to Intellectual Inheritance

Born illegitimate in 17th-century Mexico, Sor Juana was legally excluded from certain inheritances and positions, yet she claimed the inheritance of human intellectual tradition as her birthright. She argued that reason, curiosity, and the capacity for knowledge transcend social categories. This concept challenges the notion that adopted identities must exclude you from cultural or intellectual resources meant for the 'legitimate' inheritors. For anyone whose identity was not chosen—whether adopted at birth, immigrated, or belonging to marginalized groups—claiming intellectual inheritance becomes an act of justice. Sor Juana insisted that a woman, a colonial subject, a illegitimate person had as much right to philosophy, theology, and science as anyone. This principle transforms adoption from a marker of exclusion to a position from which you can demand full participation in human knowledge and tradition.