Obscurantism rejects scientific ideas and defends a reactionary position.
The concept of obscurantism , which comes from the French word obscurantisme , is used with reference to the systematic rejection of the transmission and propagation of culture . Also mentioned as obscurantism , its pillar is the defense of thoughts and positions that are reactionary and even contrary to reason .
Obscurantism, therefore, is a practice that consists of opposing certain knowledge and events from being made known . The exponents of the Enlightenment accused the most conservative sectors of society of being obscurantists, for example.
In this framework, during the 18th century it was common for religious people to be identified as defenders of obscurantism by philosophers who postulated the need to promote reason over faith. Even today it can be said that an obscurantist position is one that does not support scientific progress or cultural changes.
Origin of the term obscurantism
The origin of the term takes us to the 16th century , even though obscurantism had already been practiced a long time before. At that time, the work Letters from the Dark Men was published, a satire based on the intellectual dispute between the Dominican friars and Johann Reuchlin , a humanist from Germany, over the decision to burn Jewish books simply for not belonging to the Christianity.
At the beginning of the century, the friar Johannes Pfefferkorn had obtained permission from the Roman emperor to carry out the incineration of all copies of the Talmud (the work that brings together rabbinic discussions about Jewish customs , ethics and law. ). Precisely, in the aforementioned satire, the Dominican friars were ridiculed for their ideas against these works and in favor of burning them.
Medieval philosophers used to point out religious people as promoters of obscurantism.
A tendency against progress and the dissemination of knowledge
Obscurantism is linked, in short, to the retrograde . This is the trend whose essence lies in denying progress and preventing the free circulation of knowledge.
There is also an obscurantism that is dedicated to intentionally hindering access to knowledge . When content is difficult to understand due to its impenetrable characteristics, its author can be identified as an obscurantist.
Obscurantism, in this case, would involve appealing to abstractions to generate gibberish that cannot be verified or verified. It may even be a philosophical decision by the author.
Obscurantism and gibberish
Let's briefly remember the meaning of the term gibberish to understand the previous paragraph in greater depth. It is a complicated language that can border on meaninglessness, either because the ideas are presented in a confusing way or because the sentences are inappropriate. It is even possible to build it with a ciphertext.
It is important to indicate that the lack of clarity of gibberish is not due to the intellectual training of the receiver but to the sender's way of expressing himself.
The opposite of disclosure
In summary, we can say that obscurantism is at the opposite end of dissemination , openness and transmission of knowledge with the aim of growing and progressing. Attitudes such as the threat of burning a literary work simply for containing ideas different from one's own arise from poor minds, incapable of accepting diversity or even defending their ideas in front of others.
It is not uncommon for obscurantism to be associated with the Christian religion , due to stories like the one mentioned above and many others that include censorship, persecution and the imposition of "revealed truths" that were presented in an unquestionable manner. There are those who claim that the Church stopped the evolution of humanity for several centuries because of these retrograde practices.
The idea of obscurantism, finally, is used to refer to the lack of transparency : “The government promotes institutional obscurantism to hide its actions,” “The Judiciary takes refuge in obscurantism.”