Conscience Flashcards
Augustine’s views on conscience
The moral voice of god within the individual
What does “Love god and do what you want” ~ Augustine, mean?
Get closer to god and you will know what to do morally
Who viewed Conscience as an intellectually driven concept
Aquinas
What is Synderisis
The natural desire to do good
What is conscientia
The rational working out of what constitutes as a good moral action
Who believed that the conscience becomes obscured by weakness of will (sinning from choice)
Aquinas
What is invincible ignorance
Doing something wrong that isnt your choice / your not aware of
Where is aquinas initial view of the conscience found
Summa theologica
—> views conscience as an act / application of knowledge
How does “God made man in his Image” relate to conscience
God made man in his MORAL image
What is vincible ignorance
Ignorance that is correctable and avoidable
How does aquinas summarise what the conscience is
- Synderesis
- Reason decides what is good
- What reason tells us is good, is the good that we should persue
What is the ‘Id’
The basic drives within us
E.g hunger, sex, anger
What is the ‘ego’
The rational self (that controls the Id)
What is the super-ego
Our internalised sense of what is right and wrong - tries to make the ‘ego’ behave ‘morally’
Describe the new born child in Freuds mind
Entirely comprised of Id
What is a fundamental part if the Id
Libido
What is freuds analogy for the ego and the Id
The rider (ego) controls the horse (the Id)
How does the super-ego develop
As a result of socialisation and growth
What is the oedipus complex
Boy’s subconsciously want to have sex with their mothers and hate their fathers
What is the point of conscience
Each scholar is attempting to capture something unique about human life
How do aquinas, Fromm and freud view conscience
Freud: why we feel guilt and shame
Aquinas: how we rationally and morally choose our actions
Fromm: how we should relate to political and social structures
What are common criticism of Frued
- He constructed his theories without sufficient empirical evidence
- His patients were middle class, neurotic women
- Real science is always falsifiable (said popper)
What were Freuds religious views
He was athiest
What was Freuds account on religion
Man lived in a state of fear in pre-historic times (e.g storms etc) - therefore he created god to explain them
—> origins of prayer + ceremonies was to appease the gods
