Conscience Flashcards
(32 cards)
What is the role of the conscience?
- How you decide what should be done before making a moral decision.
- To inform moral agents whether their actions were right/wrong.
- Causing guilt after the event?
- Demanding a particular course of action
Who are the key scholars in this topic?
St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Freud and Fromm
For St. Augustine what is the conscience?
The innate voice of God (that has been placed into human minds by God). It informs us what is right and wrong and acts as a moral guide within us.
What is a strength of Augustine’s approach?
+ It is consistent with scripture - “Conscience is a witness to the requirements of the law” (Romans 2)
What are the weaknesses/ criticisms of Augustine’s approach?
- It depends on a belief in God!
- The amount of moral evil in the world suggests that not everybody hears the voice of God within them…?
- Different people have different ideas of ‘the good’ - surely God would spread the same message.
- Additionally, does this not compromise free will?
How does Newman support Augustine’s view?
He says that he would “toast the conscience, before all else.”
Name two examples or individuals who believed contrary to what their culture believed, suggesting that their morality was not taught but instead it was urged through God:
- Martin Luther King
- Malala
- Wilberforce
What is the contradiction within Augustine’s view of the conscience with regards to free will? (Include a quote)
It surely compromises the idea of free will - if conscience is the voice of God speaking to us, can we be morally free?
Augustine said: “A runaway horse is better than a stone”!
For St. Thomas Aquinas what is the conscience? (Quote)
Conscience is the God-given faculty of reason.
“The mind of man making moral judgement.”
If we use reason, and follow the syndereis principle - we will arrive at understand the five primary precepts of NML. Conscience then applies these through the secondary precepts in particular situations.
What is Aquinas’ meaning of ratio?
Ratio = right reason
What does Aquinas mean by conscientia?
Conscience in action, the act of conscience.
What is Aquinas’ key principle?
The syneresis principle.
What is the synderesis principle? (Quote)
“Good should be pursued and evil should be avoided.”
“Synderesis is in the rational part of a human agent. It is a natural disposition of the human mind.”
Why did Aquinas think that we are inclined towards good?
Because of our IMAGO DEI - we are connected to God.
What is the difference between invincible and vincible ignorance?
INVINCIBLE = You are not morally responsible for your actions.
VINCIBLE = You are morally responsible for your actions.
What is Aquinas’ example to show vincible ignorance?
Sleeping with another man’s wife - if you know that it is someone else’s wife that is wrong.
However, if you think it is your wife - then that is vincible.
How did Aquinas explain us feeling guilt?
Guilt = letting God down (can be relieved by God’s grace).
What are the strengths of Aquinas’ view of the conscience?
+ Because he believes that the conscience is fallible - it CAN be mistake and we may make wrong decisions (this is more REALISTIC)!
+ Emphasis on reason, safeguards free will - reason allows us to make freely chosen moral decisions (and gives us moral responsibility).
What are the weaknesses/ criticisms of Aquinas’ approach?
- It depends on a belief in God.
- Aquinas ‘assumes’ that we all act according to his syneresis principle - however, observation of the world suggests that not everybody does.
- Many people act irrationally - has God not given everybody the ability to reason?
What does Butler describe the conscience as? (Quote)
“A principle of reflection in men.”
How does Fletcher view the conscience?
As a verb. It is not a thing we HAVE, but something we DO.
“It is merely a word for our attempts to make decisions.”
What is a strength of Fletcher’s view of the conscience in comparison to Augustine, Aquinas and Butler?
He resolves the problem of the conscience not being a physical feature of the brain, by explaining it as a thing we do rather than something we have.
E.g. if you go for an MRI scan you cannot see or pinpoint the conscience!
What is Freud’s understanding of the conscience?
Conscience = the internalised voice of authority figures. It is experienced as a feeling of guilt.
What are the Superego, Ego and ID?
Superego = conscience (internalisation of external parental authority)
Ego = self-serving, rational self - tries to keep the ID in control
ID = our animalistic, selfish desires for things e.g hunger, sex, anger etc.
