Ownership of One's Time and Labor

Sor Juana's writing and study were constantly interrupted by demands on her time from the convent, patrons, and social expectations. She fought for blocks of uninterrupted time to think, read, and write—treating her hours and mental labor as her own property. In libertarian justice, ownership of time is foundational: if someone else controls when you work, rest, think, and create, they control the substance of your life and the fruits of your effort. Sor Juana's arguments for solitude, study, and the protection of her intellectual labor against constant interruption establish time itself as a property right. This applies to modern contexts: the libertarian principle that you own your labor means you own the hours you give to work, and you retain rights over how intellectual or creative output is used and compensated. It rejects systems where institutions or employers claim not just the product but the person's time, attention, and cognitive capacity as ongoing property. True freedom requires temporal autonomy.