Scholars To Scatter

Question 1

Francis Bacon & Sean Carroll

Answer 1

Challenge to Aquinas’ teleology

• Bacon (early scientist/philosopher)
• Carroll (modern physicist)

Bacon and Carroll argue that the universe has no built-in purpose (telos).
Instead, it operates through natural laws and chance. They reject Aquinas’ belief that conscience reflects a divine plan. Modern science explains moral instincts (like empathy) as evolutionary traits, not God-given laws.

Question 2

Ockham’s Razor

Answer 2

Aquinas’ conscience = an unnecessary hypothesis

• Ockham, a medieval philosopher and theologian

According to Ockham’s Razor, the simplest explanation is best. Since science and evolution can already explain moral behaviour and conscience without invoking divine reason or synderesis, Aquinas’ theological account is redundant. Conscience, then, is better understood through empirical, not metaphysical, means.

Question 3

Richard Dawkins

Answer 3

Explains morality through evolution, not God

Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and atheist

Dawkins argues that shared morals (like protecting life) help humans survive, so they evolved naturally. He also points to moral disagreement between cultures (e.g. views on euthanasia) as evidence that conscience is shaped by society, not an innate, God-given natural law.

Question 4

Karl Popper

Answer 4

Critiques Freud’s unscientific method

Popper, a philosopher of science

Critiques Freud’s unscientific method
Popper says Freud’s theories about the mind (which influence views on conscience) are unfalsifiable—they can’t be tested or proven wrong. This makes them unscientific, raising doubts about conscience theories based on Freud’s ideas.

Question 5

Jean Piaget

Answer 5

Supports that conscience develops through upbringing/conditioning

Piaget, a child psychologist

Piaget observed children and found that moral understanding develops in stages through interaction with parents and peers. This supports the idea that conscience is learnt through socialisation, not given by God, challenging Aquinas’ view.

Question 6

Joseph Fletcher

Answer 6

Critiques the universality of Aquinas’ natural law

• Fletcher, an ethicist and creator of situation ethics

Fletcher points out that if Aquinas is right, there should be widespread moral agreement, but instead we see deep moral disagreements across cultures. This suggests that conscience is shaped by context, not by divine law.

Question 7

B.F. Skinner

Answer 7

Conscience as learned behaviour / through operant conditioning

Skinner believed that human behaviour is shaped by rewards and punishments. He argued that conscience is simply the internalised voice of social conditioning, not God’s law written on our hearts, opposing Aquinas’ view.

Question 8

Evolutionary Biology

Answer 8

Explains morality as a survival trait

Evolutionary biology says traits like empathy and fairness helped human groups survive and reproduce, so they were passed on. This provides a naturalistic explanation of conscience, rather than Aquinas’ belief in God-given moral law.