Conscience

Question 1

How could conscience be defined?

Answer 1

A sense of justice; what is right and wrong

Question 2

Which scholars suggest that Conscience is the voice of God?

Answer 2

• St. Paul
• Cardinal Newman

Question 3

How does St. Paul view conscience?

Answer 3

• God’s law is ‘woven into the very fabric of creation’ in the form of Conscience.

Question 4

How does Cardinal Newman view conscience?

Answer 4

• Conscience is the voice of God in a mysterious way
• When we feel guilty, it is the voice of God talking to us
• When someone follows their conscience, they are in some way following God’s law

Question 5

What did Aquinas view conscience as?

Answer 5

• Not as the voice of God, but as the combination of reason and synderesis (which are God given faculties)

Question 6

What is conscientia?

Answer 6

Latin for conscience.
Aquinas viewed it as the application of reason to synderesis

Question 7

What is prudence?

Answer 7

Practical reasoning. Knowing both what to do (synderesis) and what is practical to do (ratio).

Question 8

What did Aquinas say about our reason?

Answer 8

It is flawed.
We can therefore miss apply it and make mistakes

Question 9

Our conscience and reason makes mistakes in moral judgment sometimes. Why did Aquinas suggest this was?

Answer 9

Ignorance. We are flawed beings and therefore cannot know the outcomes of some situations.

Question 10

What are the two types of ignorance Aquinas suggested?

Answer 10

Vincible and invincible

Question 11

What is vincible ignorance?

Answer 11

When we are not properly informed of a situation by our own fault. We have failed to apply reason or follow our conscience.

Question 12

What is invincible ignorance?

Answer 12

When we are not properly informed of a situation and therefore make a mistake by no fault of our own. The intentions are good

Question 13

What type of ignorance puts blame on someone, and what type means actions committed by it are not sins?

Answer 13

A person with vincible ignorance is to blame for a wrong doing
A person with invincible ignorance is not to blame as they would have no way of knowing better- they have not committed a sin.

Question 14

In the eyes of the Catholic church, what conditions must be met for an action with bad consequences to be considered a sin?

Answer 14

• Knowledge that you are committing a sin
• Free will in terms of choosing to commit it.

Question 15

What two types of conscience did Fromm suggest?

Answer 15

• Authoritarian conscience
• Humanistic conscience

Question 16

What is the authoritarian conscience?

Answer 16

• Similar to Freud’s ideas in that it is based on guilt and fear
• The internalisation of fear so our inner voice becomes the authority
• We follow it even if what it tells us to do is illogical

Question 17

What is the animalistic conscience?

Answer 17

• Our own voice reacting to how we are doing in life
• More reflective
• It is a higher form of conscience and more developed

Question 18

What did Freud suggest the three parts of the mind are?

Answer 18

• The id
• The ego
• The super ego

Question 19

What is the id?

Answer 19

The primal part of the mind responsible for desires and drives. Self centred and pleasure seeking

Question 20

What is the ego?

Answer 20

The rational and more realistic part of the mind that controls the id so that it aligns with societal expectations.

Question 21

What is the super ego?

Answer 21

Interanilised voice of authority from figures such as parents and teachers. Criticises and judges the ego

Question 22

For Freud, what is good concsience?

Answer 22

The effective operation of the ego over the id. The id’s needs are fulfilled while still conforming to society’s expectations

Question 23

Where does conscience come from for Freud?

Answer 23

The conflict between the super ego and the ego. The super ego makes the ego feel guilty when we give into the desires of the id which gives us a conscience. We want to avoid feelings of guilt so do the moral thing

Question 24

What did Fletcher see conscience as?

Answer 24

A verb- something we do

Question 25

What is the act of conscience for Fletcher?

Answer 25

Our attempt to make decisions creatively, consistently and fittingly in the next situations we are given

Question 26

What is irrelevant for Fletcher?

Answer 26

The past. We should not feel guilt a our previous actions as they cannot be undone. We should only be concerned about future actions

Question 27

What are issues with Fletcher’s take on conscience?

Answer 27

- It does not explain why we feel guilt if it is not due to our conscience - Fletcher says the past is irrelevant however we must reflect on the past to make good future decisions

Question 28

For Fletcher, what is all that matters about decision making and why is this an issue?

Answer 28

- That we act out of love - This lead to people not taking responsibility for their actions, claiming it was out of love

Question 29

What does Butler argue about consience?

Answer 29

- Our conscience is our intuition - It allows us to know what is right and wrong in any situation without having to apply reason - Our intuition is God given so should be obeyed

Question 30

What does Butler suggest is the cause of guilt

Answer 30

- What we feel when we don't follow our intuition as we know what is right due to it

Question 31

What does Piaget believe about our conscience?

Answer 31

- Takes a development approach: children's morality develop through time

Question 32

What are Piaget's two stages of moral development?

Answer 32

- Heteronomous - Autonomous

Question 33

What is the Heteronomous stage of moral development?

Answer 33

- Ages 5-10 - Childrne look beyond themselves for moral guidance, i.e a parent. - Breaking rules leads to punishment

Question 34

What is the autonomous stage of moral development?

Answer 34

- Ages 10+ - Children develop their own set of rules