The Right to Self-Education

Sor Juana's auto-didactic path—teaching herself languages, mathematics, theology, and philosophy despite limited formal access—establishes self-education as a freedom claim. She rejected the premise that only approved authorities could grant knowledge legitimacy. This concept recognizes that genuine liberty requires the right to learn what you choose, when you choose it, and from sources you select. In Libertarian justice, gatekeeping education becomes a form of property theft: institutions monopolize knowledge and charge rent for its access. Sor Juana's model shows that freedom means the ability to develop your own capacities without institutional permission. The right to self-education directly enables economic independence, intellectual autonomy, and resistance to manipulative power. Without it, individuals remain dependent on credentialing systems that control their access to opportunity and livelihood.