conscience god
voice of god cardinal newman, point 1
• INTUITIVE VOICE OF GOD: Cardinal Newman’s theological view of the conscience is that of the immediate voice of God telling us what to do “the voice of the lawgiver”, rather than our own use of ratio. When a person follows their conscience they are simultaneously following God’s divine law; when one ignores one’s conscience they experience guilt and shame, as “God is the one to whom we are responsible, before whom we are ashamed”
differing moralities argument against newman
• Fails to explain why theists may have differing moral views on issues such as abortion, with some leaning towards a liberal pro-choice approach, and other a conservative pro-life account either it is not the voice of God, or the voice of God is unclear. If the voice of God is unclear surely there’d be little purpose in following the conscience at all (due to stifling ambiguities)
reason aquinas conscience
- Aquinas believed conscience was a process of applying right reason (recta ratio), in order to develop the intellectual virtue of prudence or phronesis; the ability to reason was given from God as a result of being created imago dei.
- Through application of reason, one is able to access and develop synderesis, the natural inclination we have to “do good and avoid evil”. Aquinas highlights that “synderesis is not a power but a natural habit”, which allows us to apply moral rules.
- Therefore conscientia is the practical outworking of synderesis, in order to make and apply moral judgements. Conscience “is not a power, but an act… knowledge applied to individual cases” (‘Summa Theologica’), much like Flecther’s understanding – a verb, not a noun whereas intuitive theological conceptions of the conscience, as “voice of God”, fail to explain how religious people have differing moral judgements on cases such as abortion (with some being pro-life, and others pro-choice), the Thomist can explain this through differing balances of ratio, synderesis and conscientia
environmental criticism of aquinas
• Yet our ability to reason may be hindered by authoritative figures, internalised morality – Aquinas seems to overlook the influence of environment on one’s moral conscience a mixture of both seems most accurate/ helpful
conscience from god
freud upbringing, 2
- Freud establishes hypothetical categories within the human mind as a “psychic apparatus”: the ego (the rational and conscious self which relates to the outside world), the id (the unconscious self which contains basic desires and drives, following the ‘primitive pleasure’ principle), and the superego (a set of morals controls influenced by authority, often opposed to the id).
- For Freud the conscience comes as a result of the conflict between the id and the superego and can be explained psychologically – it is the repository of the internalised moral standards of society, and the values instilled in us by figures of authority.
butler criticism of freud
• INTRINSIC PART OF HUMAN NATURE (Joseph Butler, 18th century theologian): For Butler, the conscience is an intrinsic part of human nature, and to dismiss this innate sense of morality is to dismiss this part of ourselves arguably psychological explanations are reductionist!
“our natural guide”
“magisterially exerts itself without being consulted.”
It is powerful and happens without our permission; we can’t tell our conscience to shut up, and it may nag at us for a long time after we’ve done something wrong.
unconscious defence of freud against butler
- When our conscious mind, the ego, rebels against the unconscious internalised moral standards (the superego) we experience feelings of guilt the conscience is not really us, but instead internalised morality of authoritative figures!
- An example of this can be seen through Freud’s Oedipus Complex – Freud’s discussion of the Oedipus Complex explains how our conscious desires are repressed by the unconscious mind. He claims that a male child in its pre-sexual development will develop a sexual fixation for his Mother and subsequently develop a hatred for his Father, who he will see as an obstacle of these desires. This resentment will be suppressed into the unconscious mind as he comes to admire his Father, and will thus result in feelings of guilt and even neuroses.
popper criticism of freud
• Critics suggest Freud’s research on concepts such as the Oedipus complex was limited and based only on a handful of case studies. Furthermore, his ideas cannot be verified or falsified (as they are based on the unconscious mind), which led Karl Popper to deem them as a mere “pseudo science”
product of surrounding, aquinas, 3
- Psychological explanations seem to suggest our conscience is merely a product of our surroundings/ authority and not something we have chosen to develop (as Aquinas argues) – thus it would seem that our moral decisions would not be our responsibility, and our consciences were not a product of ourselves.
- This may lead to individuals acting carelessly and failing to take moral responsibility, or reacting impulsively as a result of guilt ultimately not wholly reliable as part of the unconscious mind
aquinas, conscience can lead to moral errors
• Aquinas argues we have a responsibility to develop phronesis and prudence through repeated use of reason, in order to avoid making moral errors. When one makes a moral error this is either because of vincible ignorance (a lack of knowledge for which a person is responsibility) or invincible ignorance (a lack of knowledge for which a person is not responsible). For example – a man sleeping with another woman because he is unaware of the rule against adultery is responsible, as he has failed to develop right reason. A man who sleeps with a woman who he believes to be his wife, knowing adultery is wrong, is not responsible as his error was not due to lack of prudence
fromm, conscience develop over time
- Ultimately Aquinas’ account of the conscience as the ability to reason and develop prudence is favourable to Freud’s psychological explanation based solely on guilt and authority – although authority clearly effects our conscience, we must be able to develop our own autonomous morality in order to grow into conscious, responsible moral decision makers
- Erich Fromm: believed we had an authoritarian and a humanistic conscience – the authoritarian conscience can either provide security or repression, whereas the humanistic conscience allows us to develop our own morality through reflecting and evaluating our behaviour Aquinas concept of repeated use of recta ratio would help individuals to develop from Freud/Fromm’s authoritarian conscience, into a humanistic conscience
aquinas + piaget defence against newman saying god
- Aquinas argued conscientia is the practical outworking of synderesis, in order to make and apply moral judgements. Conscience “is not a power, but an act… knowledge applied to individual cases” (‘Summa Theologica’), much like Flecther’s understanding – a verb, not a noun people will apply their reason differently, as some will have developed prudence/ synderesis better than others
- Compatible with secular understanding as it suggests there is an element of “learning” or development, as opposed to being innate since birth. Conscience develops through repeated use of right reason, alongside a person’s development, similarly to William Piaget’s idea of the conscience
