Justice as Prerequisite for Truth

Sor Juana's intellectual work was inseparable from her critique of gendered oppression and institutional hypocrisy. She understood that pursuit of truth in an unjust system requires naming the injustice; silence colludes. This concept asserts that authenticity across traditions demands justice work, not as an add-on but as foundational. When you integrate multiple traditions, you must ask which voices were excluded, which perspectives were marginalized, which power structures shaped what counts as legitimate knowledge. Sor Juana refused the false choice between contemplation and activism, between intellectual rigor and moral courage. For authenticity across traditions, justice as prerequisite means you cannot authentically claim to honor a tradition while ignoring or perpetuating the harms it has committed. Truth-seeking in dialogue across traditions requires visible commitment to equity, voice, and the dignity of those historically silenced within those traditions.