Ideological protectionism

page type::article thing type::tool

About
Ideological protectionism is the practice of protecting a set of beliefs from rational criticism, rather than answering those criticisms with rational defenses of the belief in question. It is an essential component of much religious belief, which holds that "faith" is better than observation at discerning truth in matters of fact. Such beliefs can only survive if they are protected from rational criticism, since they make no sense.

vs. Science
Most belief systems include some degree of ideological protectionism; the only system which actively opposes protectionism is science, whose essence might be defined as "the belief that questioning beliefs is always acceptable and should be encouraged". For this reason, closed belief systems tend to be anti-science or at least take the position that religious beliefs should be "off limits" to scientific examination (the "separate magesteria" argument).

Related

 * Epistemic closure is a tool for ideological protectionism.
 * Racism is an application of ideological protectionism in which pre-existing prejudices are nurtured and protected from criticism rather than being exposed to experiences and facts which would gradually reduce or eliminate them.

Reference

 * lwwiki:Anti-epistemology seems to be talking about the same phenomenon