Single page handout FIRST SEM. M.A. Phil.

Satya Nilayam.

Indian Religions & Cultures

02. IGNORANCE
14 Sep 2021
1. Definition and etymology
o Ignorance is a lack. It is a state of unawareness, a lack of knowledge, information, understanding. It
is misconception or misunderstanding.
o Latin ignorantia. In means ‘not’, and gnarus means ‘aware, acquainted with’. Ignorance is not too
simple as many of us think it to be.
o Ignorant is not the same as illiterate (some illiterate people are smarter than literate people)
2. Three categories acc. to Catholic Theology
o invincible ignorance: lack of knowledge that a person has no way to obtain
o vincible ignorance: lack of knowledge that a rational person is capable of acquiring by making an
effort
o nescience: lack of knowledge that doesn’t matter in the circumstances (from Latin ne-, “not”
plus scire, “to know.”
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/types-of-ignorance/

3. Types
There are different levels or meanings to this idea of ignorance.
o Innocent ignorance: found in children and in the simple-minded persons whose exposure to the
world is limited and thus their general knowledge is also poor.
o Willful ignorance: Some choose to ignore knowing certain things despite opportunities to know.
They stay within their own small worlds, rather than risking the mind to know the wider world. They
stay away from questions and questioning, and prefer not to engage with the ‘outside world’.
o Arrogant ignorance: ‘Little knowledge is dangerous’, yet some think that it is the complete
knowledge and pretend to know everything. They also look down upon those who do not know
what they know.
o Domain ignorance: Some have specialized knowledge in one area but are completely ignorant of
other areas. It is false to assume that because of the knowledge of one domain there is an in-depth
knowledge of other areas.
o Enlightened ignorance: Also known as socratic ignorance. The more you know, the more you realize
that there are so many things that you cannot know because of your limited human nature.
o Learned ignorance: A certain ignorance that can be dispelled only by the Spirit of God. Especially
about God – you cannot know directly through reason, this is because of human insufficiency.
https://villasophiasalon.wordpress.com/2013/12/12/five-kinds-of-ignorance-we-ought-not-to-ignore/
4. Reality today:
o “All suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their own
happiness or satisfaction” – Dalai Lama.
o Ignorance as credentials- Politicians and others boast that they do not know sth.
o Ignorance about what is happening around us- conspiracy, fake news, false knowledge prosper.
o Abundance of ignorance, endurance of ignorance today. It is used to accuse someone and also to
defend oneself. ‘In the age of information, ignorance is a choice’
o FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, and doubt: a disinformation technique using appeal to fear.
5. Related terms
o Agnotology: study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt, especially the publication of misleading
scientific data (agnosis in Gk means ‘not knowing’)
o Agnoiology: study of ignorance, its qualities and conditions
o Ainigmology: (from enigma) study of confusions, obscure, inscrutable, sth hard to understand
Unknowledge is not the same as ignorance: According to Irvin C.Schick
o Anti-intellectualism: an aversion to education, philosophy, science, art, literature, etc.
o Creationism: literal belief in divine originated universe theories.
o Denialism: to deny a reality that one is uncomfortable with.
o Obscurantism: deliberate restriction of knowledge and deliberate obscurity (vagueness)

Robin Seelan SJ