Vincible ignorance

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Vincible ignorance is, in Catholic moral theology, ignorance that a person could remove by applying reasonable diligence in the given set of circumstances. It contrasts with invincible ignorance, which a person is either entirely incapable of removing, or could only do so by supererogatory efforts (i.e., efforts above and beyond normal duty). [1]

Doctrine of vincible ignorance

It is culpable to remain willfully ignorant of matters that one is obligated to know. [2] While invincible ignorance eliminates culpability, vincible ignorance at most mitigates it, and may even aggravate guilt. The guilt of an action performed in vincible ignorance ought to be measured by the degree of diligence or negligence shown in performing the act. [3] An individual is morally responsible for their ignorance and for the acts resulting from it. [2] If some insufficient diligence was shown in dispelling ignorance, it is termed merely vincible; it may diminish culpability to the point of rendering a sin venial. When little or no effort is made to remove ignorance, the ignorance is termed crass or supine; it removes little or no guilt. Deliberately fostered ignorance is affected or studied; it can increase guilt. [1]

Ignorance may be:

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Invincible ignorance is used in Catholic moral theology to refer to the state of persons who are, through no fault of their own, ignorant of the fact that the Christian message is true. It is the opposite of the term vincible ignorance. The first Pope to use the term officially seems to have been Pope Pius IX in the allocution Singulari Quadam and the encyclicals Singulari Quidem and Quanto Conficiamur Moerore. The term, however, is far older than that. Aquinas, for instance, uses it in his Summa Theologica, and discussion of the concept can be found as far back as Origen.

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  1. presumption of law (juris), or that which is deduced from some legal precept or authority expressed in law or based upon precedents or similarities, and
  2. presumption of a judge or man, when the law is silent on the subject and an opinion must be formed according to the way that circumstances and indications would affect a prudent man or judge.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ignorance - Invincible and Vincible (This Rock: July/August 1999)". Archived from the original on 2011-06-28.
  2. 1 2 George Hayward Joyce, “INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE,” ed. James Hastings, John A. Selbie, and Louis H. Gray, Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics (Edinburgh; New York: T. & T. Clark; Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908–1926), 403.
  3. 1 2 "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Ignorance". www.newadvent.org.