He sought clear and logical explanations over complicated "pilpul". His legal method also resembles the mode of analysis known as pilpul. A special literature of "hadran" "pilpul" began appearing at the beginning of the 18th century. The term "pilpul" was applied to this type of study. By the 18th century, pilpul study waned. Many leading rabbis who opposed "pilpul" criticized its use in the "hadran". The term "pilpul" was increasingly applied derogatorily to novellae deemed casuistic and hairsplitting. "The Bach" was an adherent of the Kabbalah and an opponent of pilpul. Many 16th- and 17th-century rabbis were also critical of pilpul. Pilpul practitioners posited that the Talmud could contain no redundancy or contradiction whatsoever. As such, "pilpul" has been derogatorily called "bilbul", Hebrew for "confusion".