1
Q
what are the 9 scholars in the conscience module
A
- Kohlberg
- Freud
- Durkheim
- Fromm
- Scheiermacher
- Aquinas
- Butler
- Fletcher
- Augustine
2
Q
what are the 4 non religious scholars
A
- Kohlberg
- Freud
- Durkheim
- Fromm
3
Q
what are the 5 religious scholars
A
- Scheiermacher
- Aquinas
- Butler
- Fletcher
- Augustine
4
Q
what did Kohlberg believe about conscience
A
he believed it is split into 3 levels of morality and conscience
5
Q
what were the 3 levels Kohberg split conscience into
A
- post-conventional
- conventional
- pre-conventional
6
Q
what is pre-conventional conscience according to Kohlberg
A
morality is based only on avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
7
Q
what is conventional conscience according to Kohlberg
A
morality is based on obeying rules and meeting societal expectations
8
Q
what is post-conventional conscience according to Kohlberg
A
morality is based on universal ethical principles that may go beyond the law
9
Q
what stage of consciousness do most people not get past
A
conventional
10
Q
what example does Kohlberg use to work out someone’s level of conscience
A
the Heinz Dilemma
11
Q
what is the Heinz dilemma
A
a man wants to steal a drug for his wife to save her life because he can’t afford it
12
Q
what would pre-conventional consciousness think about the Heinz dilemma
A
they would think he shouldn’t steal it because he would go to jail for theft
13
Q
what would conventional consciousness think about the Heinz dilemma
A
he should steal it because a good husband protects his wife
14
Q
what would post-conventional consciousness think about the Heinz dilemma
A
he should steal it because the right to life outweighs property laws
15
Q
what are the strengths to Kohlbergs view on consciousness
A
- clear structure, easy to understand
- focus on reasoning not just people’s behaviou- based on research (heinz dilemma)
- promotes moral development
16
Q
what are the weaknesses to Kohlbergs view on consciousness
A
- only tested on men, so can’t assume universal truth
- Humes critiques
- other scholars
17
Q
what are Humes criticisms of Kohlberg
A
- not clear that moral reasoning guides the conscience so much as a gut reaction or intuition
- Hume generally though humans are a “slave to the passions”
- you decide what is right/wrong through intuition the justify it rationally
18
Q
how did Freud split the mind into 3 parts
A
he believed the mind was made of 3 part:
- the Id
- the ego
- the superego
19
Q
what did Freud believe about conscience
A
- he believed it is an aspect of the super ego
- the superego has an important role in a persons morality
- it acts as an inner parent where your parents / authority figures moral commands are stored and internalised
- we cannot escape these as it brings us guilt
- conscience is a repository of our parents commands to us during childhood
20
Q
what is a quote from Freud
A
21
Q
what is Freud’s analogy of mind
A
The iceberg theory
22
Q
what is Freud’s iceberg theory
A
our mind is made of 3 levels of consciousness
- conscious
- pre-conscious
- unconscious
23
Q
what is the conscious mind according to Freud
A
it is what you are aware of at any particular moment, your present thoughts, feelings, perceptions
24
Q
what is the pre-conscious mind according to Freud
A
this is what we might call today the ‘available memory’. Anything that can easily be made conscious and brough readily to mind
25
what is the unconscious mind according to Freud
this is the largest part. All the things that are not easily available to awareness e.g. our drives and instincts or memories/emotions associated with trauma.
26
which scholars criticise Freud
- popper
- skinner
- simone de beauvoir
27
how does Karl popper critcise Freud
- claimed Freuds theory is unfalsifiable
- there are no observations you could make to disprove it
28
how does skinner criticise Freud
- no need to discuss the unconscious mind
- behaviour should be studied to see what has been reinforced
- reinforcement explains behaviour not unconscious drivers
- behaviour is learned
29
how does Simone de Beavoir criticise Freud
- based all of his explanations around male assumptions
- male experience does not equal the default experience
30
what are the strengths of Freud's view of conscience
- explains the origin of guilt
- accounts for cultural variation
- links to observable developmental patterns (childhood)
- explains moral conflict
31
what does eros mean (Freud)
it is the life of instinct or instinct of sexual gratification
32
what does thanatos mean (Freud)
the instinct of aggression, violence and death
33
what is the context of when Durkheim was writing
during the mid 19th century, France was undergoing industrialisation. The economic system was impacting peoples minds, resulting in high suicide rates
34
what did Durkheim believe about conscience
- conscience is social conditioning
- it is a sanction that the groups brings to bear on the individual (loyalty to th group)
- maintains social order
- conform to societal norms, values
- deviation can result in consequences of punishments
35
what is collective conscience according to Drukheim
shared beliefs, values and systems that most people agree with, which guide how individuals think and behave. It is like societies common 'moral mind'
36
what does Durkheim believe about God and religion
God does not exist but it is useful to bind society together
37
what does Durkheim believe about the eucharist
By taking the eucharist it reaffirms the collective conscience as people become a unified 'one'. Doesn't matter about transubstanciation being factual or not, it brings people together
38
what does Durkheim think guilt is
it is the conscience fearing that their society is judging their actions
39
what are the strengths of Durkheims view of conscience
- explains why moral rules feel binding
- explains how society is held together
- empirically grounded
- accounts for cultural variation
40
how can Jesus be used as a criticism of Durkheim
- Jesus socially challenged religious authority (the romans)
- he is a good example of morality but he lived outside the collective conscience
41
how is Marx a criticism of Durkheim
- collective conscience is not the conscience of society as a whole but the ruling class
- capitalist machinery to keep exploiting and keep obedient the proletariat
42
how is Popper a criticism of Durkheim
Durkheims arguments are not falsifiable. similar to the critique of Freud
43
what is the context of Fromm's view on conscience
- he had experienced the evil of natzism
- he was a German Jew that had to flee to america
- he wanted to reflect on how conscience can be subverted even in the most civilised societies
44
what is an example of a person who claimed they were just 'following orders'
Adolf Eichmann
45
what did Fromm believe were the 2 types of conscience
- Authoritarian conscience
- Humanistic conscience
46
what is the authoritarian conscience according to Fromm
- social norms and societal expectations become internalised
- comprised of the laws and sanctions exercised by authorities
47
what does Fromm think a good conscience is in terms of the authoritarian conscience
- we feel we have a good conscience when we please external authorities
- e.g. when we are in line with social norms and gain acceptance from society
48
how does Fromm think we feel guilt from our authoritarian conscince
- our bad or guilty conscience arises when we fail to please authorities
- we have a fear of being deserted by the authority due to disobedience
-produces guilt which weakens our power and makes us more submissive
49
what does Fromm think happens if we follow the authoritarian conscience unquestionally
- they may live a happy, prosperous life
- but they will have no inner contentment
- this is called self alienation under capitalism
50
what is an experiment that shows authoritarian conscience
the milgram experiment
51
what is the milgram experiment
- 40 males were tested
- they were the teachers
- they asked people questions (actors), if they got an answer wrong the teacher must administer an electric shock
- 65% of teachers administered the highest level of electric shock
52
what is a quote from Fromm about the authoritarian conscience
"we are not on the way to greater individualism, but are becoming an increasingly manipulated mass civilisation"
53
what is the humanistic conscience according to Fromm
- it is an intuitive knowledge f what is human and inhuman (how we can flourish)
- it reflects who we really are / our true selves
- allows us to liberate our selves from alienation
54
why can most people not hear their humanistic conscience
- because of the overwhelming influence of the authoritarian conscience
- the capitalist societal structure reinforces the authoritarian conscience
- we listen to those richer and more powerful than ourselves
55
what is a quote from Fromm about the humanistic conscience
"we are all possessors of humanistic conscience and victims of authoritarian conscience"
56
why does Fromm think man are regressing
- we are not living authentically
- becoming more of a cog in a machine due to capitalism
57
how does Freud strengthen Fromm's argument
- Fromm was inspired by Freud
- elements of what Freud also said abut external authority
- but Fromm is ore positive about conscience as the humanistic conscience can emerge
58
how did Karl Marx inspire Fromm
- capitalist societies alienate people
- make us more susceptible to accepting the commands of authority
- impose hierarchical structures that place some people in a position of servitude
59
what are the weaknesses of Fromm's view of conscience
- undermines the constructive role of societal norms (e.g. children need guidance
- too binary (oversimplifies, people can have mixed motives)
60
what are the strengths of Fromm's view of conscience
- backed up by experiments, real life events
- more positive than Freud
61
what did Augustine think about conscience
- he believed it was the direct voice of God
- it is innate, put into our minds and in human nature by God
- part of Gods creation
- scripture helps inform our conscience also
62
which quote by St Paul shows scripture tells us what we should or shouldn't do innately
"a witness to the requirements of the law"
63
what is a quote from Augustine about the conscience
"for when will they be able to understand that there is no soul, however wicked.... in whose conscience God does not speak"
64
while scholar supports Augustine's argument
Schleiermacher
65
what did Schleiermacher think about conscience
- he talked about Gefuhl
- this was the concept of feeling connected to religious intuition
- we have an immediate and innate connection to God
- our conscience is connected with God also
66
what did schleiermacher think about religious feeling
- it is a fundamental element of religious experiene
- not just an emotional state but a deeper sense of dependence and interconnectedness with God
67
what is a quote from Schleiermacher
"feeling of absolute dependence"
68
what are the strengths of augustine's view of conscience
- foundation of string moral authority
- supports moral accountability, have to choose to listen to God
69
what are the strengths of schleiermacher's view of conscience
- more flexible as its based on an intuition of God
- pragmatic
- explains moral diversity, everyone has an individual experience of God
70
what are the weaknesses of augustine's view of conscience
- relies on belief in God
- hard to distinguish God's voice from personal bias
- doesn't acknowledge the role of society
- problems of moral disagreements ( if God speaks to everyone why do some reach different conclusions
71
what are the weaknesses of schleiermacher's view of conscience
- relies too much on emotion which can be unreliable
- too individualistic
72
what does Aquinas think about conscience
- part of his overall theory about human nature, reason and ethical decision making
- it comes from God (God-given reason)
- we use reason and logic to help us understand what God intended for us
73
what did Aquinas think we should also consult apart from conscience
we should look to scripture, magisterium and tradition before conscience
74
what is a quote from Aquinas about conscience
"they are bound in conscience but they stand under no compulsion"
75
how does aquinas think we have a consience
- it comes from God
- we have understanding of natural law implanted in us
76
what is invinciple ignorance according to Aquinas
facts that could not be known from awareness
77
what is an example of invincible ignorance
- a man believes his qife to be dead
- years pass and he marries another woman
- his conscience tells him its fine to move on
- he doesn't know his wife is secretly alive and he has commited adultery
78
how does invincible ignorance link to conscience
- conscience is fallible
- it can be wrong e.g. times of invincible ignorance
- but we should still always follow our conscience as it is God given so its the best thing in terms of moral decison making
- even though it can be wrong sometimes
79
what is a quote from Aquinas about going against your conscience
"he who acts against his conscience always sins"
80
how does our conscience allow us to follow secondary precepts
- to move from the synderesis rule to primary precepts to secondary precepts, we must use our reason and this is facilitated by our conscience.
- to make NML applicable to modern life we must make secondary precepts but we discover these through reason
81
what is the synderesis rule
"do good avoid evil"
82
what are the critiques of aquinas
- ignores that large numbers of people act irrationally as their blinded by their desires and reason is limited
- he says we're all away of self awareness, but we can look at the world today and see some people are motivated by self interest
- conscience is fallible and can move away from the correct path
82
what are the strengths of Aquinas' view on conscience
- we use reason freely, which allows for moral autonomy and accountability
- supported by Aristotle e.g. practical wisdom (phronesis)
83
who was Joseph Butler
- english Bishop and theologian
- influences by many philosophers and religious thinkers such as Hume
84
what does Butler think about conscience
- it is a reflective principle placed in us by God
- a natural faculty designed by God
- we can think about what we've done wrong in the past and what we will do in the future
- it is automatic and authoritative
85
what does Butler think are the 2 governing principles of human behaviour
- prudence
- benevolence
86
what is prudence
- self love / egoism
- this is necessary for people to love others
- not the same as selfishness
87
what is benevolence
- love of other /altruism
- is the ideal but not possible all the time
88
how does the conscience work according to Butler
- it uses reason to intuitively balance the 2 governing principles (prudence and benevolence)
89
what is a quote from butler about conscience being authoritative
"without being consulted"
90
what is a quote from Butler about conscience being given by God
"the guide assigned to us by the Author of our nature"
91
what is a quote from Butler about conscience being reflective
"conscience is a superior principle of reflection"
92
what are the internal critiques of butler's view of conscience
- do people really aim to love others
- large numbers of people act on self interest
- many act irrationally, blinded by their desires
93
what does Fletcher think about conscience
- the conscience is what we do not something we have
- we do our conscience when we are deciding what actions bring about agape love
94
what is a quote from Fletcher about conscience
"conscience is merely a word for our attempts to make decisions creatively, constructively, fittingly"
95
