CH2.2 Conscience

Question 1

what is meant by Ratio?

Answer 1

it is the word used by Aquinas to describe reason, something which is placed in every person as a result of their being created in the image of god

Question 2

what is meant by synderesis?

Answer 2

for Aquinas, this means to follow the good and avoid the evil, the rule that all precepts follow

Question 3

what is meant by Id?

Answer 3

for Freud, this is the part of the mind that has instinctive impulses that seek satisfaction in pleasure

Question 4

what is meant by super-ego?

Answer 4

Freud uses this word to describe the part of the mind that contradicts the id and uses internalised ideals from parents and society to make the ego behave morally

Question 5

what is meant by ego?

Answer 5

Freud uses this word to describe the mediation between the id and the super-ego

Question 6

what is meant by conscientia?

Answer 6

this is the name Aquinas gives to the process whereby a person’s reason makes moral judgements

Question 7

what is meant by vincible ignorance?

Answer 7

this is how Aquinas describes a lack of knowledge for which a person is responsible, and can be blamed

Question 8

what is meant by invincible ignorance?

Answer 8

this is how Aquinas describes a lack of knowledge for which a person is not responsible, and cannot be blamed

Question 9

what was Aquinas’ approach to conscience?

Answer 9

his approach was theological

Question 10

what does Aquinas link conscience with?

Answer 10

with the god given gift of ratio and also links conscience with synderesis, a human inclination or habit towards good

Question 11

what was Freuds approach to conscience?

Answer 11

it was psychological
-he sees all three elements of human psyche at work in what is commonly described as conscience: the impulses to seek satisfaction in pleasure (the id) on the one hand and the human tendency to act to please those in positions of authority (the super-ego) on the other hand, mediated by the (ego)

Question 12

What does Aquinas claim about reason and synderesis?

Answer 12

He claims that it is a power of the human soul and synderesis is the habit or ability of reason to discover foundational ‘first principles’ of Gods natural moral law which gives us insight into gods intentions for human life and thus our telos

Question 13

What does synderesis tell us?

Answer 13

It tells us the primary precepts: worship god, live in an orderly society, reproduce, educate, protect and preserve human life and defend the innocent
-these primary precepts are the articulation of the orientations in our nature toward the good; the natural inclinations of our God-designed human nature, out into the form of ethical principles by human reason

Question 14

What does Aquinas claim the classic features of conscience follow from?

Answer 14

Follow from the application of our knowledge of the natural moral law to our moral actions in three ways:
-witness: by knowing whether we have done or not done something
-bind and incite: ‘through the conscience we judge that something should be done or not done’
-accuse, torment and rebuke: ‘by conscience we judge that something done is well done or ill done’
——— this is how the conscience causes guilt. Conscience is our ability to know whether we have done something, whether we should have done it, and whether it was done well. If we have done something wrong, our conscience will accuse, torment and rebuke us - causing feelings of guilt

Question 15

What is a quote from Aquinas on conscience always being ‘binding’

Answer 15

‘Every judgement of conscience, be it right or wrong… is obligatory… he who acts against his conscience always sins’
-this is because, if u choose to act against your conscience, then you are choosing to do something you believe to be evil. Conscience is thus always ‘binding’

Question 16

Because human reason is fallible, the conscience thereby becomes what?

Answer 16

It becomes fallible.
-we could be mistaken for example when we don’t know how a general rule applies to a certain situation (mistake in conscientia). Aquinas claims that the synderesis rule and the primary precepts cannot be mistaken or lost from the human mind. However, mistakes can be made in conscientia - the application of the primary precepts to moral situations or actions to derive secondary precepts. These mistakes can result from original sin, unvirtuous habits and corrupt culture

Question 17

Whether errors in conscience that lead to sinful acts will be forgiven or pardoned depends on what?

Answer 17

On the type of ignorance that caused the error.

Question 18

What does Aquinas mean by invincible ignorance?

Answer 18

This involves circumstances where a person could not have known better and so are not to blame for their action
-e.g if someone drunkenly jumps in front of your car and there was nothing you could have done, you would not be held responsible for hitting them. Actions that go against the natural law but are done due to invincible ignorance are technically not voluntary and thus not sin

Question 19

What does Aquinas mean by vincible ignorance?

Answer 19

This involves circumstances where a person could have known better and so are to blame for their action.
-it typically involves some kind of negligence or ignorance of which moral principle is relevant to a situation.
-e.g. if a fire breaks out in a building because it wasn’t looked after properly, then the person in charge of that is to blame for their action. They were ignorant that the fire would happen, but they should have known better.

Question 20

what did Freud think the conscience was a result of?

Answer 20

a result of psychological forces that science could understand
-he believed the mind was divided into the id (our unconscious animalistic desires), ego (our conscious decision-making self) and the Super Ego (the part of us that ‘stores’ the values we introjected, unconsciously adopted, from authority figures during our childhood and is the source of our moral feelings). When a desire bubbles up from the unconscious id into our conscious Ego, we become aware of wanting to act on it, but our Super Ego then tells us whether the values of our society allow it. If so, we can act on it. If not, we have been conditioned to repress that desire, which Freud thought responsible for many mental problems

Question 21

what is the ethical implication of Freuds take on conscience?

Answer 21

the ethical implications is that conscience is not the voice of God in us, it is just what our society wants from us. Our society might be good or bad, therefore our conscience is not the best guide if Freud is right.
-furthermore, there might not even be a ‘good or bad’, if morality is merely the conditioning of societies on its members

Question 22

who was Freud influenced by?

Answer 22

-by Nietzsche, who argued that human conscious mind (what Freud called the ego) developed by necessity when humans underwent the radical change from hunter-gatherer to farmer.
-our natural animalistic instincts (what Freud calls the id) were of less use to us in the new environment of society, in fact they were a hinderance as they called on us to behave in ways that would make society fall apart. Consciousness emerged as the space in-between our instincts and the outside world as a mediator chich had to decide which instincts to act on and which not to

Question 23

what does Freuds theory of psychosexual development relate to?

Answer 23

relates to his theory of the id, ego and super ego.
-Freud thought that the process of being socialised - being introduced into society - required children to learn to control their id. This process of learning was developmental in that it comes in stages. If self-control is not learned at a particular stage, it can lead to issues later in life.

Question 24

what are the 5 stages of Freuds psychosexual development theory?

Answer 24

-oral stage: 1-5 yrs
-anal stage: 1.5-3 yrs
-phallic stage: 3-6 yrs
-latency stage: 6-puberty
-genital stage: until maturity `

Question 25

why has Freud been criticised by contemporary psychologists?

Answer 25

-he has been criticised for not being empirical enough.
-Karl Popper criticised Freud’s theory for being ‘unfalsifiable’ as it could not say what would prove it wrong. This means is is not true empirically. Freud studied a small sample size of patients, a poor cross-section of society and did not do proper experiments, so he is unscientific