Knowledge as Emancipatory Property

Sor Juana insisted on access to libraries, languages, and disciplines despite institutional and gender-based barriers. She understood that knowledge—once acquired—remains permanently one's own and multiplies rather than diminishes with use. This differs from material property in important ways: it cannot be monopolized or hoarded without loss to others. In the libertarian framework, knowledge as emancipatory property means removing barriers to education and intellectual development, recognizing that property rights themselves depend on informed, capable citizens. Her life demonstrates that justice requires protecting pathways to learning, ensuring that economic freedom and property rights are meaningfully available to all, not just the institutionally privileged.