The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ignorance \Ig"no*rance\, n. [F., fr. L. ignorantia.]
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The condition of being ignorant; the lack of knowledge in general, or in relation to a particular subject; the state of being uneducated or uninformed.
Ignorance is the curse of God, Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven.
--Shak. -
(Theol.) A willful neglect or refusal to acquire knowledge which one may acquire and it is his duty to have.
--Book of Common Prayer.Invincible ignorance (Theol.), ignorance beyond the individual's control and for which, therefore, he is not responsible before God.
Wiktionary
n. (context theology English) Ignorance beyond the individual's control and for which, therefore, he/she is not responsible before God.
Wikipedia
Invincible ignorance may refer to:
- Invincible ignorance (Catholic theology), a term used to refer to the state of persons (such as pagans and infants) who are ignorant of the Christian message because they have not yet had an opportunity to hear it
- Invincible ignorance fallacy, a deductive fallacy of circularity where the person in question simply refuses to believe the argument, ignoring any evidence given
The term "invincible ignorance" has its roots in Catholic theology, where — as the opposite of the term vincible ignorance — it is used to refer to the state of persons (such as pagans and infants) who are ignorant of the Christian message because they have not yet had an opportunity to hear it. The first Pope to use the term officially seems to have been Pope Pius IX in the allocution Singulari Quadam (9 December 1854) and the encyclicals Singulari Quidem (17 March 1856) and Quanto Conficiamur Moerore (10 August 1863). The term, however, is far older than that. Aquinas, for instance, uses it in his Summa Theologica (written 1265–1274), and discussion of the concept can be found as far back as Origen (3rd century).
When and how the term was taken by logicians to refer to the very different state of persons who pigheadedly refuse to attend to evidence (see Invincible ignorance fallacy) remains unclear, but one of its first uses was in the 1959 book ''Fallacy: The Counterfeit of Argument '' by W. Ward Fearnside and William B. Holther.
Usage examples of "invincible ignorance".
For although there are many degrees of ignorance, nevertheless those who have the cure of souls cannot plead invincible ignorance, as the philosophers call it, which by the writers on Canon law and by the Theologians is called Ignorance of the Fact.
Marta glared at him, recognized invincible ignorance, and made a strategic withdrawal to the hotel.
I would have given anything for the power to soothe her frail soul, tormenting itself in its invincible ignorance like a small bird beating about the cruel wires of a cage.
The Stone Girl was clearly relieved: even Renie's invincible ignorance did not draw the usual look of disbelief.
He'd plunged into the game of schemes and maneuvers with the courage of invincible ignorance, unfettered by any hindering principles, and, so far, his gutter instincts had served him well.