Article 2 - ‘The Force Of Falsity’

By Umberto Eco

Essay from ‘Serendipities — Language & Lunacy’

 Book published by Phoenix Paperback in 2000

1.

History has been mostly a ‘theatre of illusion’ – despite the opposite ideal – the ‘force that moves the speculative intellect is truth’.

2.

Exhibit A – the Donation of Constantine.

In the 12th century, a letter arrived claiming that beyond the region dominated by the Mussulmen (Moslem territories), there was a Christian Kingdom governed by a legendary Priest John aka Presbyter Johannes or Prester John –

“I am lord of lords … I surpass all the kings of the earth. Seventy-two monarchs pay as tribute. I am a devout Christian and everywhere I defend and support with alms the true Christians governed by the dominion of my clemency …

Our sovereignty extends over three Indias … into the desert and press the confines of the Orient, then turn toward the Occident as far as Babylonia Deserta, by the tower of Babel … among us no one lies, among us no one is an adulterer. No vice has power in our midst.”

This idea ‘justified all ventures of European expansion and exploration.’ It generated a significant political project, the colonisation of the new world, an alibi for the expansion toward Africa and Asia.

3.

And who wrote this fantastical document?  

‘Perhaps it was a document of anti-Byzantine propaganda, produced in the scriptoria of Frederick I.’

We will never know.

The source or author is not important however – the impact of the letter was significant for the history of the expansionists and the colonised.  

4.

Exhibit B – the secrecy of the confraternity of the Rosy Cross – or the so-called Rosicrucians.

Two manifestos were attributed to a mythical founder, Christian Rosencreutz, dating back to the 15th century.

These documents asserted that a ‘society would rise that would possess gold, silver, and precious stones in abundance and distribute them among kings to satisfy their needs and legitimate aspirations, a society that would educate rulers, teaching them everything God permits mankind to know and supporting the with wise counsel.’

5.

This fabrication led to another confraternity, to the builders of cathedrals – the masons.

6.

The Rosicrucian myth was even to combat the Enlightenment, as an apology for throne and altar – culminating with the French revolution.

7.

And through a very complicated story, it ‘represented the primary source of the Protocols of the Elders of Zyon.’

In it, the Elders declare – “boundless ambition, devouring greed, and pitiless desire for vengeance and an intense hatred.”

‘They want to abolish freedom of the press, to encourage libertarianism; they criticise liberalism but support the idea of corporate multinationals. To provoke revolution in every country they mean to exacerbate social inequality. They want to build subways the better to mine the big cities. They want to abolish study of the classics and ancient history; they mean to encourage sport and visual communication in order to make the working class stupid.’

Sound familiar?

8.

Eventually, an itinerant Russian monk published the text of the protocols with his annotations. This text fell into the hands of Hitler.

9.

So what’s the common thread in these stories of falsity?

Each had a plausible narrative, a comprehensibility that is often beyond everyday of historical reality which is ‘far more complex and less credible.’ The seduction of simplicity dressed in a good story.

10.

And what of philosopher Karl Popper’s social theory of conspiracy?

‘This is a consequence of the end of God as a reference point and of the consequent question – who is there is his place? This place is now occupied by various men and powerful, sinister groups that can be blamed for having organised the Great Depression and all the evils we suffer.’

Enlightenment, the coming of the secular age, Nietzsche’s madman in the town square –

“Gods, too, decompose! God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How can we console ourselves, the murderers of all murderers!”

11.

So what is Eco telling us about some of the big stories of today? – 9/11 and consequent decisions and actions by the US  -- growing inequality and the global financial crisis (has anything changed?) – renaming ‘global warming’ to ‘climate change’, belief and non-belief – the profound shame of the Catholic church, and systemic abuse and obfuscation by institutions --  AI, Big Data and the rise and rise of Google, Facebook and Amazon, etc.

Each event has a story to tell …