Figure 1: A section of the index where René Descartes and his works could be found
The Index was first published as a response to the many existing controversial works that the Catholic Church deemed to potentially disrupt or distract the faithful masses. The works listed in the Index covered topics ranging from the likes of philosophy and politics to theology and science. In all cases, these were considered for banning because they fulfilled the general criteria of blasphemy, heresy, and religiously taboo topics. To prevent dissent and formation of controversial opinion by the masses, the Index was implemented to prevent contamination of the Catholic faith and corruption of morals through theologically erroneous or immoral books, with the first edition being published in 1559. The Index was then subsequently distributed to Catholic congregations around the world to spread word of this banned literature. It also acted as a guide for censors to determine what natures of books to permit for publishing, as printers then required official authorisation before books could be published. As more authors published their works over the years, the Index was constantly updated into newer editions. It was eventually discontinued by Pope Paul VI in 1966.
While the Index listed authors whose works were to be banned from being published, the censors allowed authors to update and correct their works for a chance to be reviewed, potentially having their works removed from the Index. There was also encouragement for would-be authors to self-censor, correct, and edit their works in order to prevent the possibility of being inducted into the Index.
Some examples of well-known works that were mentioned in the Index from its conceiving till its abolishment include John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, and Simone De Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, amongst others.
The section of the text in this picture details several specific works of René Descartes, the first being Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, or Meditations on First Philosophy. This text details his metaphysical philosophy and discusses the nature of the relationship between God and Man. Possibly to prevent doubt on the Catholic faith by the faithful, Descartes’ work was indexed, preventing circulation of such theological discourses. Listed to be banned for religious reasons, the justifications for indexing Descartes’ many works were but just a few of the many reasons for the variety of works listed in the Index.
Even though the governing body banned these works, the nature of literature and the discourse of the many possible topics that sprang up from the burgeoning educated and knowledgeable generation resulted in an ever-expanding repertoire of books to sieve through and censor, eventually deeming the censorship and review of works too cumbersome of a task to undertake by the governing body. This would lead to the decline and eventual abolishment of the Index, and placement of the onus of reading responsibly on the faithful masses instead.
Prepared by Ye Heng