Exoteric refers to knowledge that is outside and independent from a person's experience and can be ascertained by anyone (related to

common sense ''Common Sense'' is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political argu ...

). The word is derived from the comparative form of Greek ἔξω ''eksô'', "from, out of, outside". It signifies anything which is public, without limits, or

universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

. It is distinguished from internal

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

knowledge. "Exoteric" relates to external reality as opposed to a person's thoughts or feelings. It is knowledge that is public as opposed to

secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

or cabalistic. It is not required that exoteric knowledge come easily or automatically, but it should be referenceable or reproducible.

Philosophical context

Most philosophical and religious belief systems presume that reality must be independent of what an individual makes of it. However, even before the days of

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, a prominent alternate theory of knowledge insisted that the perceived outside reality is merely an internal fabrication of the observer and that it has no existence or substance outside the imagination of the observer. The Buddha's statement: "All that we are arises with our thoughts" (

Dhammapada The Dhammapada (Pāli; sa, धर्मपद, Dharmapada) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka ...

1.1) is reminiscent of this. In his book entitled '' The Book of Five Rings'', the Japanese swordsmaster Miyamoto Musashi noted that when he teaches people martial arts, "since egenerally makes them learn such things as have actual relevance to addressing eeper principles there is no such thing as a distinction between the esoteric and the exoteric."

Religious context

In the same way as the term "esoteric" is often associated with esoteric spirituality, the term "exoteric" is mostly used in discussions of religion and spirituality, as when the teachings shift the believer's focus away from an exploration of the inner self and towards an adherence to rules, laws, and an individual God. The term "exoteric" may also reflect the notion of a divine identity that is outside of, and different from, human identity, whereas the esoteric notion claims that the divine is to be discovered ''within'' the human identity. Going one step further, the pantheistic notion suggests that the divine and the material world are one and the same. The

Ismaili Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...

interpretation of

Shia Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...

operates in the framework of a co-existence between the exoteric ('' zahir'') form and the esoteric ('' batin'') essence. Without the esoteric, the exoteric is like a mirage or illusion with no place in reality.

Government

The exoteric form of government is one where all actions taken by the government must be both publicly disclosed and ratified by the public. This is often referred to as transparency of governance.

Societies

Many societies are divided into 2 sections—the ''exoteric'' or "public face" and the ''esoteric'' or "behind closed doors". Such are many

fraternal organization A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...

s, such as

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, which are at some level accessible to the uninitiated but which have higher and higher levels of initiation as one progresses.

References

External links