Intellectual Property as Self-Ownership

Sor Juana's defense of her own intellectual labor—her writings, theological arguments, and scientific inquiries—demonstrates that intellectual property flows directly from self-ownership. She refused to surrender her mind to institutional control, asserting that her thoughts belonged to her alone. In Libertarian justice, this principle protects individuals from having their ideas appropriated, their knowledge exploited, or their creative output claimed by state or employer. Sor Juana's example shows that freedom of thought requires legal recognition of intellectual ownership, ensuring that the fruits of mental labor belong to the thinker, not to hierarchies that would claim dominion over conscience and creativity.