Conscience

Question 1

How does Aquinas view the conscience ?

Answer 1

• He begins with the Synderesis rule - all humans seek to do good and avoid evil
• Our conscience is an innate god-given faculty of reason
• Conscience is fallible - 1) if it is ignorant of the moral laws that should be applied to the situation 2) it can be wrong if it not informed of the facts of the case ( we need to know everything that is happening in the situation)
• Even though it is fallible it should always be followed
  “what the conscience dictates is true to the individual concerned, and the truth must be followed”

Question 2

What is the conscience in accordance to Durkheim?

Answer 2

• Conscience is social conditioning - the sanctions that the group brings to bear on the individual
• Conscience is a perception of loyalty to the group
• To say that someone has no conscience is just saying they are socially maladjusted
• He also puts forward the idea of collective conscience, it is organic to society as a whole
• Durkheim’s view is reinforced by an evolutionary perspective as conscience is seen as a survival mechanism
• One strength is that groups improve their survivability by individuals having a conscience that compels them to maintain group loyalty

Question 3

What is the conscience in accordance to Freud?

Answer 3

Freud splits the mind into the super-ego the ego and the Id( thanatos and eros)

• Conscience is seen as a psychological phenomenon
• Conscience is “a aspect of the operation of the super-ego”
• Conscience acts as our ‘inner parent’ where moral commands are stored.
• Only in its judging and threatening actions is the superego identified as the conscience
• Conscience manifests itself through the feelings of shame guilt and remorse.
• Freud’s theory can be questioned as he states we don’t grow out of our conscience so it always stays as our inner-parent
• People may state that Freud reduced the conscience too much reduced
• If the conscience is simply an expression of our unconscious application of rules that we have been given in early childhood, then it certainly does not provide some alternate source of moral authority

Question 4

What does Aquinas state about conscience when talking about moral situations?

Answer 4

• Telling lies and breaking promises violates the primary precept of living in an ordered society
• Aquinas says we should say an evasive truth - link this to how Aquinas and NML approach real life situations

When talking about the theological views talk about Fletcher and agape-love use the example of the lady held captive does sacrificial adultery

Question 5

What dos Freud state about conscience when talking about moral situations?

Answer 5

• when telling lies and breaking promises Freud states that the super-ego remains quiet in some people; presumably their parents saw no problem with such acts
• humanity had invented civilization in order to control its instinctive drives (thanatos and eros)

Question 6

What dos Durkheim state about conscience when talking about moral situations?

Answer 6

• Adultery is just bad because that is what society tells us
• religion has lost its authority to society

Question 7

Give a quick sentence on what every philosopher ( sociological, religious and physiological ) thinks on what the conscience does and its function?

Answer 7

• Freud = Aspect of the operations of the Superego
• Fromm = Authoritarian conscience and Humanistic conscience
• Durkheim = Sanctions of social conditioning
• Kohlberg = Behaviour developed through social interaction
• Aquinas = God-given faculty of reason
• Butler = Conscience as God given faculty - intuitive, reflective and autonomous
• Schleimaker = Conscience is God’s way of guiding people
• Augustine = Conscience as the innate voice of god
• Fletcher = Projection of Agape

Question 8

Give a quote that Aquinas used that supported the idea that the conscience should always be followed ?

Answer 8

“What the conscience dictates is true to the individual concerned, and truth must be followed”