Theological origin and colonial use of the Enlightenment critique of superstition

Abstract

The article aims to show that the Enlightenment concept of superstition, which presents it based on the categories of ignorance and fear, is a resumption, in other historical conditions, of the late-antique theological discussion about this phenomenon. Object of critical reflection in Roman thinkers such as Cicero, Varro and Seneca, this concept was transposed by Irenaeus of Lyon and, mainly, Augustine of Hippo into Catholic theology based on a new ontological position, guided by Platonism. The hypothesis of the article is that, in Enlightenment criticism, which in its most general aspects remains on the same ground inaugurated by Irenaeus and Augustine, it is a question of identifying superstition with barbarism, given the then conditions of colonization of the extra-European world by Europe.