Intellectual Property as Self-Ownership

Sor Juana's prolific output—theological treatises, poetry, scientific inquiry—exemplified the principle that intellectual work belongs to the person who produces it. In her tradition, the mind is inseparable from personhood; therefore, intellectual property emerges naturally from self-ownership rather than state grant. This concept challenges both feudal patronage systems and modern monopolistic copyright by grounding property rights in the creator's fundamental right to their own labor and thought. For libertarian justice, this means recognizing that knowledge-workers possess inherent claims to their output, independent of institutional permission or market power consolidation.