Conscience Flashcards
What does Aquinas say about our consceince?
For Aquinas, to undedstand conscience you have to understand ratio (reason). Humans have many special qualities that make them stand out from other creatures, including imagination and intellectual ability. Humans can create ideas, pictures, music, stories and machines. They can learn to do complex and sophisticated things. Aquinas believed that ratio distinguishes humans from animals. Of all creatures, only humans deliberate over moral matters and ratio, it is therefore a fundamental part of the created human being. It is a divine gift from God. The Bible says we were made in the image of God and is therefore placed into every position.
What is ratio?
Ratio is more than simply comprehending things, understanding them or perfecting them. I can comprehend the things I see before me. But this is not ratio. Ratio moves us in our thinking from one thing to another. It’s progressive and has some sort of direction linked to judgement. It’s an act of working things. Ratio connects us to the eternal realm, to the divine. People sometimes talk about having a powerful sense of the wrongness or rightness of something and Christians might describe this as a connection to a higher knowledge, some eternal or divine insight. This means morality is not simply about doing that which is accepted by the many, what is culturally, socially or politically ‘normal’.
What did Hannah Arendt say about the norms of society?
Hannah Arendt, writing about the Holocaust, argues that when the norms of society become profoundly immoral you must reject them.
What did Zigmunt Bauman say about the norms of society?
If morality may manifest itself in insubordination towards socially upheld principles, and in an action openly defy social solidarity and consensus then the moral instinct cannot simply be the reproduction of what is seen in front if you. This is Aquinas’ idea that in ratio there is a movement of to something else, something higher matters. It reaches beyond what is socially acceptable to a higher morality.
What is synderesis?
Aquinas thought that every human person there is has synderesis, the principle that directs us towards good and away from evil. Aquinas also noted that there is also sensuality within each of us, which tempts us towards evil and which was operating in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were tempted. But while he thought that both synderesis and sensuality are present in humans, Aquinas was positive about the outcome of any conflict between them. He had a positive view of human being’s capability to lean towards the good and away from the selfish.
What is conscientia?
For Aquinas, conscience is the knowledge gained from the application of ratio to synderesis is applied to something we do. Conscience is ‘reaason making right decisions’, it is not a voice giving us commands. According to Aquinas, man’s reasoning is a kind of movement which begins with the understanding of certain things that are naturally known as immutable principles without investigation. It ends in the intellectual activity by which we make judgements on the basis of those principles.
What is ignorance?
To go against reason is always wrong. For Aquinas, coming from faith means coming from conscience and that means coming from the application of ratio. Aquinas says that human being should do what they think is right and that humans can, using reason, discern correctly what is right. He is also acknolwegding that humans make mistakes because the operation of ratio involves knowledge, and knowledge may be incomplete or erroneous.
Why may a responsibly informed action not be blameworthy, even though it may be wrong?
For Aquinas, a person can honestly do the wrong thing whilst believing it is the right thing. This does not mean, however, that people are always blameless. A person might, through irresponsibility or even the temptation of sensuality, fail to educate themselves and may conseqeuntly act without the necessary knowledge.
What are the two types of ignorance?
Vincible ignorance and Invincible ignorance.
What is Vincible ignorance?
Vincible ignorance is a lack of knolwedge for which a person can be held responsible; they ought to have known better. Vincible ignorance is not an excuse and a person who demonstrates vincible ignorance is morally culpible for the acts carried out as a result. They cannot claim that ‘conscience’ justifies their action.
What is Invincible ignorance?
Invincible ignorance is a lack of knowledge for which a person is not responsible. It is when a person acts to the best of their knowledge, having done all they can to reasonably inform themselves, but nevertheless gets it wrong and does not act in accordance with what is right and good. Aquinas does not believe that God will condemn humans for invincible ignorance. If you live according to your conscience, God will provide salvation. Human beings must do what their ratio tells them is right. Aquinas emphasises that a person is not blameworthy for invincible ignorance, for making a genuine mistake, even when the mistake breaks a commandment.
What did Cardinal John Henry Newman believe?
Newman believd that when someone is following their conscience they are following a divine law as given by God – but is the responsibility of the person to intuitively decide what truth God is guiding them towards. “I toast the pope but I toast my conscience first“. Our conscience has higher authority than church teaching. The guilt we feel by making an incorrect choice is a consequence of not obeying God.
What does the Catholic Church conclude following Aquinas’ thinking on conscience?
“Conscience must be informed and moral judgement enlightened. A well-informed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgements according to reason, in conformity with the true good will by the wisdom of the creator. The education of conscience is indespensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgement and ro reject authoritative teachings”.
Why is Aquinas’ conscience a good way of explainig human moral decision-making?
It is good because it explains why people can feel deeply responsible for things they could not have foreseen. This does not mean they should surrender moral responsibility to others. It is not about simply obeying other people’s rules. If you practice good habits and try to lean towards the good (synderesis), your reason (ratio) will help you act well. And if you try to gather knolwedge to inform your decisions then your actions cannot be blameworthy (invincible ignorance) even if there are things you do not know. This is conscientia in operation.
What does Aquinas’ theological approach challenge?
Aquinas’ theological approach challenges the notion that there is some sort of intuitive voice of morality (coming from God or from somewhere else) telling us what to do. Instead, ratio (reason), synderesis (good habit or ‘right’ reason) and conscientia (moral judgements) are the essential components of moral decision-making. He acknowledges, pragmatically, that people make mistakes, but argues that a person should not be blamed for a genuine mistake arising from invincible ignorance. Note, however, that his basic positive view of human inclination towards the good is tempered by an awareness of the sensual temptations that drew people away from synderesis.
What is wrong with Aquinas’ approach?
Aquinas’ approach to conscience can be criticised for failing to take into account the social, political, environmental and economic pressures that affect a person’s moral decision making. Shame and guilt, regrets about past actions and a misplaced sense of duty are just some of the factors that affect our conscience and heavily influences our moral decision-making.
