obscurantism - Reflexions

obscurantism

An attitude opposed to education, the spreading of knowledge, reason and progress. A negation of knowledge (the refusal to acknowledge as truths things which have been scientifically demonstrated) and/or an opposition against the spreading of knowledge to the greatest number of people. The spreading of theories whose falseness has been demonstrated. Obscurantism is often cited in relation to the Middle Ages and the Inquisition. At the beginning (1781) the word obscurantism designated the opinions and the doctrine of the enemies of the Enlightenment, the people who were against the spreading of new knowledge and new ideas amongst the masses. Today, for a proportion of atheists, every religion is an obscurantist belief.