1
Q
Aquinas’ theological approach of conscience
A
- the act of applying the universal principles (Eternal/Divine law) to actual real life situ
- role of conscience is to apply the primary precepts through the use of syneresis (an inner principle that directs us towards good and away from evil) and conscientia (the actual decisions we make on the basis of moral principles that we arrived through via synderesis.
- ratio, syneresis and conscientia are all gifts from God, which allows us to make links with the eternal law that God est., but note: this isn’t God telling us what is right or wrong, but God giving us the tools to work it out ourselves.
2
Q
Aquinas and ratio (reason)
A
- it is our ability to reason and make moral judgements
–> ratio distinguishes us from animals
–> ability to reason is a divine gift from God– we are made “in the image of God” - reason is comprised of theoretical/speculative reason (thinking of scientific hypothesis) and practical reason (practica ratio) + how this should be applied to a situ
3
Q
Aquinas and ratio (reason)
- virtues
A
- reason identifies ‘nature’ or ‘cardinal’ virtues
–> the cardinal virtues are 4 principle moral virtues:prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, which all other virtues ‘hinge’ on
–> cardinal virtues need to be kept to develop the moral law
–> prudence needs to be developed so practical reason, and conscientia, are used right
–> prudence is: “right reason applied to practice”- allows us to judge what is right/wrong
4
Q
Aquinas and synderesis
A
- natural inclination that we are all born with which makes us want to do good rather than evil – to fulfil our purpose/telos
- humans can use ratio to cultivate the habit of syneresis – this needs to constantly happen to become a habit bc syneresis can be blinded so we are tempted towards evil (e.g. what happened to Adam and Eve in the garden of evil)
- syneresis doesnt tell us the actions which are actually good- need ratio and conscientia
5
Q
Aquinas: is synderesis and conscience fallible?
A
- synderesis is never mistaken, it is infallible- not the same as conscience
- BUT just because we desire to do good and avoid evil is infallible, it doesnt mean this will lead to the right action
- the way we apply moral knowledge and make practical judgements may be wrong- we may act out of ignorance if we don’t have full knowledge of the situ
- therefore conscience is fallible- its is the “application of knowledge to activity” (Summa Theologica)
6
Q
Aquinas: conscientia
A
- “the mind of man making moral judgements”
- comprised of (1) knowing what is right or wrong (2) knowledge of how to apply this in a particular situation
- central part of conscientia is the use of ratio
- conscientia applies the primary principles of syneresis to a situation (the secondary precepts to particular circumstances)
7
Q
Aquinas: why do we have a duty to follow our conscience
A
- its wrong to go against reason, but we have a duty to make sure our reason is well-informed to make moral decisions
- even if what our conscience is telling us to do is objectively wrong, we must follow it otherwise we would be acting irrationally which is a sin (a sin because Aquinas believes God gave us the means to discover what is right - reasoning excellently)
–> St Paul: “everything that does not come from faith is a sin” - BUT although we must always follow what we have reasoned we can be resposinble in some cases if what we do is wrong (vincible + invincible)
8
Q
Aquinas: how can conscience be mistaken
A
- syneresis is infallible but we can make mistakes in applying this knowledge :
- vincible ignorance
- invincible ignorance
9
Q
Aquinas:vincible ignorance
A
- lack of knowledge where a person can be held responsible because they should have known better
- blameworthy bc ignorance couldve been avoided
- “we punish those who are ignorant of…the laws they ought to know”
10
Q
Aquinas: invincible ignorance
A
- not responsible: ignorance is beyond their control
- God will not condemn a person for II but will give them mercy through his grace
- might have done wrong bc they are insane or too young. e.g. a man who has no criminal record, mental illness… wants to buy a gun. a lady gives him the gun. he goes on a killing rampage. the lad isn’t at fault bc she couldn’t have known better.
11
Q
+ve of Aquinas: 1. provides a complete expl of conscience
A
- explains how conscience comes about (how we gain moral knowledge +how we apply this to moral dilemmas)
- how our conscience acquires moral content
- how conscience can go wrong
- provides a compl expl of what role ‘the divine’ plays in conscience
- this provides an alternative to other Christian theories (such as Newman- conscience is a voice from God) which see it simply as a voice from God . it is widely accepted in the Catholic Church
12
Q
-ve of Aquinas: 1. relies on existence of God
A
- relies on God which is difficult to prove
–> if naturalism is true (belief that everything arises from natural properties + supernatural/spiritual beliefs are discounted) then his theory is false bc God is ruled out - there are vastly different moral beliefs across cultures; this is called descriptive moral relativism.
–> Fletcher: there is no innate God-given ability to reason bc if this was the case there would be more moral agreement
–> Freud: society conditions our moral views. There either is no natural moral law or human reason is unable to discover it. - So, what Aquinas thought was human nature was really just his culture.
13
Q
+ve of Aquinas: 2: provides a reason WHY we may fail to do good our conscience can be mistaken
A
- he explains our conscience can be mistaken
–> explains whether we are morally blameworthy or not
–> if we act despite vincible ignorance, we hold a degree of accountability for our actions - he acknowledges why we may do bad things- mistakes in conscientia^, original sin (supported by Calvin: conscience is wounded due to the fall so we need Christ’s mercy and God’s grace- we are more likely to make errors of judgement), lacking virtue and a corrupt culture.
- means this is better than other religous theories like Augustine or Newman because although they are simple, arguing conscience is just a voicde from God, they do not explain why our conscience is mistaken and why we do wrong- if it is a voice from God, surely we cannot do wrong.
14
Q
-ve of Aquinas:2: does not take into account emotions and feelings AND too optimistic about human nature
A
- makes this less realistic that we will always think rationally and make unbiased reasoned judgements (esp in issue of medical ethics)
- terrible things humans have done and that entire cultures have embraced, e.g. slavery and Nazism, it starts to look like human nature is not as positive as Aquinas thought.
- If we really had an orientation towards the good and the primary precepts accurately described our nature’s orientation, then we should not expect to find the extent of human evil we do.
–> instead we should consider that conscience is a product of living in society- something we have created: philo Adam smith: conscience is a “mirror of social feeling” - unconnected to the divine
–> Freud also argues conscience is a construct of the mind which responds to an externally imposed authority by internalising the disapproval of others
15
Q
+ve of Aquinas: 3: his views on conscience highlight the challenges of moral decision making
A
- he was a relativist and argued we should approach moral situations differently (no right way to act- we must use our reason to determine this)
- he accepts its not where we are told what is right/wrong
- he notes that you can cultivate synderesis yourself, but that this is a habit which will take time.
- as he highlights the difficulty, this is relatable to humans as we do often find it difficult, so a more relatable thoery, and this is better than other theories(dont use this if already mentioned in essay but) such as Augustine’s which says it is a voice from God telling us good/bad and such as Newman’s’s theory that conscience is just a voice from God telling us what to do- which would be easy, as we would be told the good and bad - he said it was the “aboriginal vicor of Christ” whcih tells us what to do
16
Q
+ve of Aquinas: 3: we can cultivate synderesis and conscientia ourselves
A
- we can do this so they become a habitual part of moral decision making
- argued w need to keep following process of using ratio, synderesis and conscientia to apply our moral knowledge to activity in every moral dilemma we face.
- supported by Piaget’s idea: conscience is not intuitive but is developed through experiences and conditioning, as Aq argued children don’t have a full formed conscience. Piaget says that there are 2 types of conscience: immature conscience (ages 5-10) and mature conscience (11+)
17
Q
-ve of Aquinas: 3: too much reliance on human reason
A
- Aquinas is a proponent of natural theology through reason which he claimed could support faith in God. Human reason can gain knowledge of God’s natural moral law through the ability of human reason to know the synderesis rule and primary precepts.
–> Karl Barth argued that Aquinas’ natural law theory was a false natural theology which placed a dangerous overreliance on human reason. Barth argued that if humans were able to know God or God’s morality through their own efforts, then revelation would be unnecessary. Yet, God clearly thought revelation necessary as he sent Jesus.
–> Barth: “the finite has no capacity for the infinite”; our finite minds cannot grasp God’s infinite being. Whatever humans discover through reason is therefore not divine so to think it is must then amount to idolatry – the worship of earthly things. Barth argued idolatry can lead to worship of nations and then even to movements like the Nazis. It follows for Barth that after the corruption of the fall, human reason cannot reach God or figure out right and wrong by itself. Only faith in God’s revelation in the bible is valid.
- CA: Aquinas is only suggesting that reason can understand the natural law God created within our nature. If reason only has this goal of supporting faith in such ways, then it cannot make revealed theology unnecessary.
–> Tillich defends Aquinas to a degree, arguing that Barth was too negative in denying the possibility of reason discovering anything whatsoever of the natural law.
18
Q
Aquinas evals
A
1 + provides a complete expl of conscience
1 - does not take into account emotions and feelings AND relies on existence of God
2 + provides a reason WHY we may fail to do good our conscience can be mistaken
2 - too optimistic about human nature
3 + his views on conscience highlight the challenges of moral decision making
3 + we can cultivate synderesis and conscientia ourselves
3 - too much reliance on human reason
19
Q
Freud’s psychological approach
A
- non-religious alt
- natural rather than supernatural approach
- conscience has a psych explanation and that it influence things in good and bad ways. it is connected to feelings and is not rational or linked to any telos
- provides a developmental approach to conscience
20
Q
freud: theory of the mind
A
- 3 aspects of human personality which operate at diff levels of the mind:
–> conscious mind: - things you are currently aware of
- aspect of mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally
- includes our memory: not always part of consciousness but can be retrieved easily and brought into awareness
–> preconscious mind:
- incl things we aren’t presently aware of but can pull into conscious awareness when needed
- consists of memories we have that aren’t readily available but accessible e.g. you may not be thinking about how to do long division, but you can access the info and bring into consc awareness when faces w/ maths prob
–> unconscious mind:
- aspects of mind we aren’t aware of: repressed thoughts+feelings, desires
- repressed bc they are too threatening– are often unpleasant or unacceptable and lead too feelings of anxiety or pain/conflict
- unconscious thoughts can lead to behav like anger and compulsive behaviour
- these hidden desires sometimes come out in dreams or the ‘Freudian slip’
21
Q
Freud: linking his view of the mind to free will
A
- his view suggests that freedom of the will is, if not completely an illusion, certainly more restricted than commonly believed.
- bc: when we make a choice, we are governed by hidden mental process that we are unaware of and have no control over
22
Q
Freud: human personality
A
- made of 3 parts + Fr arg conscience naturally arises within the human personality, and is the feeling of guilt (which arises from the superego)
–> Id:
- with us from birth
- amoral + focuses on the self- wants instant pleasure
- driven by what a person needs to survive (sex, food, water)
- if these needs aren’t satisfied=anxiety and stress
- entirely unconscious aspect of personality
–> ego:
- wants some control over the Id and guides the Id.
- manages the Id’s feeling of frustration when immediate gratification isn’t poss - uses techniques like fantasy, repression and rationalisation to control the Id
- part of preconscious and conscious mind
–> super-ego:
- where conscience is created + found in all parts of the mind
- where the mind ‘stores’ moral norms of society and rules and is internalised
- wants to control ego: main method is feelings of guilt and shame (which freud calls the conscience). these feelings are used to persuade the Ego to conform to internalise norms rather than what the Id wants to do. ego tries to balance these demands w/ those of the Id.
23
Q
Freud: the Id
- libido
A
- important aspect of Id: libido- “the energy…of those instincts which have to do with…‘love”. libido is the life-force of the Id, driven to avoid pain and seek pleasure. what fraud means by pleasure principle
- through each stage of a Childs life they develop awareness of their libido– these are the stages of psychosexual dev (oral, anal, phallic…)
- the role of libido drives human behaviour- leading Freud to imply all human actions spring from motivations which are sexual in their origin
24
Q
Freud: the Id
A
- entirely unconscious part, present from birth
- instinctive- to survive we want food, sec, water. we need to satisfy these, and then we can exp pleasure. if not satisfied we exp feelings of anxiety- as seen when a baby cries if it wants food/drink
- amoral: no concept of right or wrong + only concerned w/itself
- impulsive
- operates on ‘pleasure principle’ - idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences
- has no collective will and is hard to find bc in a “dark, inaccessible part of our personality” (Freud)
25
Freud: the ego
- the ego develops to mediate between the unrealistic Id and the external world.
- decision making component of the personality - by using reason
- ego operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying the Id's demands to avoid negative consequences of society e.g. imagining food to try and satisfy hunger
- Freud uses example of a horse to expl relationship between ego and id- ego is the ride and horse is the id. the rider has to hold in the superior strength of the horse and guide it to where it needs to be- like the ego guiding the id in a socially acceptable way:
--> "the ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world"
- knowledge of what is socially acceptable comes from the superego
- ego starts to emerge in childhood (anal stage)
26
Freud: the super-ego
- emerges at 5- develops drone phallic stage
- where conscience is created + is found in all 3 parts of mind
- contains internalised standards of right/wrong which a person has learned from family+society
- fulfilling rules leads to pride...failing to live up to standards=guilt and criticism
- puts pressure on ego to control amoral wishes of id
- we get feelings of pleasure from obeying internalised standards, but if we don't, we feel guilt (it is these punishing feelings created by superego to control ego that is the conscience)
- freud uses story of Adam and Eve eating the apple to demonstrate this tension--the Id desires knowledge but the super-ego produces guilt as this is wrong
- therefore freud thinks conscience is a construct of the mind, arisen from internalising the feelings of guilt that occurs when others disapprove of what we have done
27
Freud- superego
- the oedipus complex
- superego partially born out of the oedipus complex- which refers to a Childs unconscious desire (in the id) for the opposite-sex parent
- phallic stage: boys unconsciously desire their mothers-- overcome when a child realises (through Ego) this will never happen- thus the oedipus complex dissolves by the child identifying itself w/ mother or father. this leads to successful resolution of the complex, but if not, one may develop homosexuality or neurosis
- "to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother"
28
Freud: the superego
- the oedipus complex DISSOLVED
- superego develops when dissolved - then we form an 'ego-ideal' i.e. 'I want to be like mum or dad' -- the birth of the conscience
- superego consists of 2 parts: conscience and ideal self (ego-ideal)- conscience can punish ego by causing feelings of guilt . the ego ideal is an imaginary picture of how you treat others + behave as a member of society and if you don't live up to this you will exp feelings of guilt.
-- the ideal self and conscience are largely determined in childhood from parental values + how you were brought up-: "a child's super-ego is in fact constructed on the model...of its parents' super-ego"
29
Freud: 5 stages of psychosexual dev
1. oral stage (0-1 years)
2. anal stage (1-3 years)
3. phallic stage (3-6 years)
4. latency stage (6-puberty)
5. genital stage (post puberty)
30
Freud: oral stage (0-1 years)
- about the mouth- a way to nourishment
- pleasure of nourishment drives a child to seek it, this is the libido at work, which also drives the bond between a mother and baby
- oral stage entirely fulfils the id
31
Freud: anal stage (1-3 years)
- child begins to toilet train and child begins to explore the anus. this exploration is driven by the libido (pleasure) in controlling bladder and bowel movements
- child is starting to control the id. ego starts to come when they stop wetting themselves=feeling happy and get rewarded
32
Freud: phallic stage (3-6 years)
- children discover pleasure from touching genitalia
- around this age that parents tell them this is wrong which feeds into the struggle between id and superego
-stage where oedipus complex is prominent
33
Freud: latency stage (6-puberty)
- child consolidates habits from earlier psychosexual stages
- interest in opposite sex grows- motived by Id but older people inform our superego that this isn't right
34
Freud: genital stage (post puberty)
- purpose is psychological detachment and independent from parents
- a person can confront and resolve their remaining psychosexual childhood conflicts
- fully formed conscience has been developed
35
+ve of Freud: 1: provides a naturalistic expl that doesnt rely on existence of God
- his conscience is a feeling of guilt that has arisen from the internalisation of the authority - rejecting the assumption that God could be involved.
--> - about coercing Ego to follow the norms of society + a persons' family's expectations that have been internalised
--> this leads Freud's arg onto being the simplest expl bc it doesnt rely on existence of the supernatural force (Ockham's razor)
--> in rejecting the role of God given abilities/gifts, he also provides a developmental approach to conscience(supported by Piaget), which explains why people have different explanations of the conscience- conscience is fluid not fixed and changes from child-adulthood (expl why consciences differ)
36
-ve of Freud: 1: problems with the evidence he used
- Freud has been criticised by contemporary psychologists for not being empirical enough.
--> Fromm claimed he had a very small sample size of patients, a poor cross-section of society, and others have claimed it is not scientifically robust enough.
--> Karl Popper criticised Freud’s theory for being ‘unfalsifiable’ as it could not say what would prove it wrong. This means it is not true empiricism.
--> However, Popper was clear that he wasn’t saying there was absolutely nothing of value in Freud’s ideas – just that they needed to be subjected to proper scientific experiment and testing.
--> CA: Piaget: contemporary psychologist who developed better empirical methods of experiment than Freud but came to similar conclusions, so can thus be seen to defend Freud to some degree from the accusation of being unscientific.
37
+ve of Freud: 2: conscience is based upon our experience
- based on our experience (as humans, our sense of morality is the internalisation of what our environment has taught us)
--> can explain how people in same group/society will share the same views and moral standards, compared to those from other countries or families
--> therefore people will agree that morality does not come from a higher power/something that is external to the universe, but is something that is relative to a particular society which people will internalise.
- Piaget also believed conscience is manufactured from experiences and conditioning.
38
-ve of Freud: 2: not applicable to all bc not acceptable to religious people
- Freud does not consider the possibility of there being any relation between the conscience and God; he dismisses the idea of God without discussion.
- not acceptable to religious people as he denies any religious or spiritual dimension to conscience and does not recognise God.
--> religious people often feel conscience is a gift from God or a voice from God (Newman), which will uncover what is objectively true or moral.
--> therefore there is more of an authoritative view of what is right/wrong in these Christmas theories, but there is no such understanding w/ freud - he args it is just relative to society
39
+ve of Freud: 3: many agree conscience is connected to feelings of guilt
- many agree conscience is conntected to feelings of guilt and that it isn't a rational process/intuition. this theory sees conscience as being a feeling, esp of guilt, which most agree w/
- many people agree conscience is a feeling + doesn't contain any rational elements
--> support for this from some physiologists who accept elements of his theory - especially the ideas about the different levels of the mind + his understanding of how conscience emerges.
40
-ve of Freud: 3: other natural explanations
- other expl that are simpler - thus, following Ockham's razor- would be simpler
- others have argued for alternative natural explanations that involve a lot less assumptions
--> e.g. Fromm argued that the conscience can be explained socially where it is merely the voice of what society approves/disapproves of- it is an authoritative theory.
--> Fromm's theory has fewer assumptions to explain guilt/conscience then this is the one we should accept rather than freud's -simplest expl.
-ALSO although relies on chirst, you could argue other theories like Newman's are better than freud's because they are simpler- like the voice of God
41
list of evals for Freud:
1 + provides a naturalistic expl that doesnt rely on existence of God
1 - problems with the evidence he used
2 + conscience is based upon our experience
2 - not applicable to all bc not acceptable to religious people
3 + many agree conscience is connected to feelings of guilt
3 - other natural explanations
42
comparison between Aquinas and Freud:
- on the concept of guilt
Aquinas:
- Guilt is the feeling that an action is not good; that is, it is not in line with Divine Law.
- Guilt is an indication of the accumulation of sin which God will use to judge people with when they die. it is not a mechanism of 'balancing the books'
- it arises from the synderesis inclination telling us things are not right.
Freud:
- Guilt is the feeling resulting from internal conflict between what one wants to do and what one should do
- The inner torment of guilt can cause a person to do bad things.
- "The tension between the demands of the conscience and the actual demands of the Ego is experienced as a sense of guilt"
43
comparison between Aquinas and Freud:
on the presence or absence of God within the workings of the conscience and
super-ego
Aquinas:
- conscience is based on an objective absolute standard of morality.
- his theory rests on God- it is due to god that people have synderesis. it is through this that humans can have a partial glimpse of the eternal law.
- Failure of the individual to reason correctly damages their relationship with God but can it can be restored through God's grace.
Freud:
- Conscience is a construct of the mind - it is not linked to reason in anyway
- does not believe that God exists as a separate supernatural force- he is a figure who has been created by humans as they have internalised their experience of authoritarian father s along with a way to control the fear of power of nature by humanising this.
SIMILARITY:
- freud idea of a balanced harmonious person is one where the ego is able to balance the id + superego. this is similar to Aquinas where a person who is using reason correctly which would lead to good character and habits.
44
comparison between Aquinas and Freud:
on the process of moral decision-making
Aquinas:
- If one makes a genuine moral mistake, then they are blameless.
- It is a failure of the individual to reason correctly.
Freud:
- It is not the consequence of wrongdoing but the cause of wrongdoing.
- it is not based on an objective standard of morality but rather the internalisation of the disapproval of society
A level RS --> Ethics
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