Periagoge
Concept
1 min read

The Right to Question Everything

An epistemological principle that authentic knowledge and identity require the freedom to interrogate all claims, including those of tradition and authority.

Juana
Why It Matters

Sor Juana's famous "Response to Sor Philothea" defended her right to investigate all knowledge—theological, scientific, artistic—as essential to understanding God's creation. She modeled a practice of radical questioning that did not require permission from institutional gatekeepers. For Authenticity across traditions, this concept affirms that integrating multiple worldviews demands critical inquiry into each tradition's assumptions, values, and blind spots. It rejects passive acceptance and instead requires active, respectful interrogation. This is not cynicism but genuine engagement: asking why a tradition believes what it does, where it came from, what it enables and constrains. By claiming the right to question, you claim agency in determining which elements of each tradition serve your authentic development and which obscure it.

Helpful guides
Juana
Identity & Justice
Peri
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