Knowledge as Earned Property

Sor Juana's self-education—reading voraciously in her family library, mastering philosophy, theology, and languages without formal institutional training—establishes knowledge as property earned through individual effort rather than institutional permission. She challenges the libertarian problem of credentialing power: institutions that control who may claim knowledge and authority. Her intellectual autonomy demonstrates that legitimate expertise arises from rigorous self-directed study, not from degrees granted by monopolistic gatekeepers. In the context of property and freedom, this concept reframes education as a form of capital accumulation that no institution can justly monopolize or withhold. Sor Juana's refusal to accept that the Church's denial of formal training invalidated her knowledge asserts the libertarian principle that property rights in learning cannot be contingent on institutional approval. Her example exposes how credentialing systems function as barriers to entry, restricting who may claim ownership of their own knowledge.