An adiaphora is a variant of a text that is not easily distinguished from the original or does not substantially alter it.
Adiáphora is a textual variant that does not modify the meaning of the original work in a substantial way or whose deviation cannot be established. Its etymological root is found in the Greek word adiaphoros , which can be translated as “indifferent.” According to the definition provided by the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), this term is used in the field of ecdotics (the discipline dedicated to the analysis of text editing).
Variation of a text
An adiaphora, in this framework, is a variation of a text . Take the case of “La Araucana” , a famous poem by Alonso de Ercilla . This work had different editions between 1569 and 1590 , which resulted in several adiaphoras.
In philosophy
The concept is also used in the field of philosophy , where it can be understood as an attitude of apathy towards reality . Next, we will see the point of view that Stoicism, Pyrrhonism and Lutheranism have of adiaphora.
For stoicism
Stoicism considers adiaphoras acts that, from a moral point of view , are indifferent . Therefore they are beyond judgments about what is wrong or right. In other words, an adiaphora is neither indicated nor censored according to morality since it does not contribute to evil or goodness.
The Stoics believed that evil and good were things that human beings could control. What was left out was an adiaphora, which more than an action could be a condition or an element. Relative adiaphoras implied the existence of a preference, while absolute adiaphoras were linked to distinctions that were irrelevant.
For Pyrrhonism
According to Pyrrhonism, the adiaphora represents all questions and all topics ; In other words, every pragmata cannot be clearly defined or differentiated. He also describes all these things as incalculable, incommensurable and unstable, which is why he considers us incapable of distinguishing between falsehood and truth, whether we rely on our ideas or our sensory perception.
According to Christopher Beckwith , a prominent American philologist, such use of the term adiaphora denotes the intention of the founder of Pyrrhonism, Pyrrhon, to translate into Greek the Tri Laksana , a fundamental Buddhist teaching according to which the world and its phenomena are transitory, insubstantial. and are subject to suffering . He adds that, in particular, it bears a great similarity to the second of these characteristics, insubstantiality, the lack of an enduring and independent soul or ego.
For Lutheranism, adiaphora is an action that is not ordered or censured by God.
For Lutheranism
In Lutheranism, finally, an adiaphora is an action that is neither commanded nor censured by God . Such is the definition found in the Formula of Concord , of 1577. In this way, the fact of specifying it or omitting it is indistinct. Throughout the Protestant Reformation , which Martin Luther began in the 16th century, understanding the meaning of this concept and its impact on religion was a topic of great importance.
In the year 1548, Emperor Charles V intended to unite Protestants and Catholics in his kingdom through a law he titled Interim of Augsburg ; However, this was not accepted because it did not guarantee that faith could fundamentally justify the facts. Some time later, the Leipzig Interim emerged, according to which differences in doctrines that did not have a link with justification through faith should be considered adiaphoras , understood as things not fundamental for salvation. This decree was also rejected by some theorists. Many years passed before they managed to refine their differences and develop the definition set out in the previous paragraph.