The Knowledge Economy and Individual Rights

Sor Juana's prolific output—plays, poetry, theological treatises, scientific observations—constituted valuable intellectual property in a knowledge economy where her work was copied, performed, published, and distributed. Libertarian justice requires that individuals retain ownership and control of their intellectual contributions in this economy. Sor Juana's work enriched others—publishers, performers, the Church institution itself—yet she had limited control over how her ideas circulated or how profits were distributed. In modern libertarian justice, this problem is central: who owns knowledge, who profits from intellectual labor, and how do individuals protect their creative property? Recognizing the knowledge economy as a legitimate domain of property rights is essential to extending libertarian principles beyond physical goods.