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PAPER 2 RE 2022 > Conscience > Flashcards

Conscience Flashcards

1
Q

Define ratio

A

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

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2
Q

Define synderesis

A

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

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3
Q

Define Id

A

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

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4
Q

Define super-ego

A

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

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5
Q

Define ego

A

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

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6
Q

Define conscientia

A

this is the name Aquinas gives to the process whereby a person’s reason makes moral judgements (conscience in ACTION)

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7
Q

Define vincible ignorance

A

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

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8
Q

Define invincible ignorance

A

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

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9
Q

What quote from the Bible supports the idea that we have the idea that one action is right, and the other is wrong - even if it is a struggle to do the right thing

A

“for I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do - this I keep doing”

ROMANS 7:19

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10
Q

What did St Jerome say about conscience?

A

“the spark of conscience” was the power to distinguish between good from evil

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11
Q

Who are the 2 key thinkers regarding the conscience?

A
  1. THOMAS AQUINAS

2. SIGMUND FREUD

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12
Q

What approach does Aquinas’ view on conscience take?

A

theological

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13
Q

What does theological mean?

A

relating to the study of the nature of God and religious belief

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14
Q

How does Aquinas explain conscience? (in terms of being gift from God)

A

BY DRAWING ON MANY THREADS OF ANCIENT THOUGHTS….

Aquinas explains conscience as linking to the God-given gift of ratio (reason), moving the mind from knowledge of this world to some higher truth

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15
Q

Why did Aquinas argue conscience was important, and essential it is followed?

A

Humans may make mistakes, but if they follow their conscience responsibly, they cannot be blamed for their actions

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16
Q

Who has Aquinas’ account of conscience influenced greatly?

A

the official teachings of the Catholic Church and, therefore, many millions of Catholics today

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17
Q

What approach does Freud’s view on conscience take?

A

psychological

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18
Q

How does Freud explain conscience?

A

all 3 elements of the human psyche are at work in what we commonly call the conscience; the impulse to seek satisfaction in pleasure (the id), on the other hand the human tendency to act to please those in position of authority (the superego), all which is meditated by the ego

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19
Q

What did MLK say about conscience?

A

people should act according to their conscience, even when their actions could be disliked or dangerous

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20
Q

What did Aquinas NOT believe about the conscience?

A

he did NOT believe the common belief that conscience is a special power or part of our mind that tells us what is right or wrong

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21
Q

Aquinas thought that to understand conscience you must understand…

A

ratio (reason)

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22
Q

How do Augustine and Aquinas differ in their ideas regarding reason?

A

Augustine believed the reason, intellect and mind to all be one power in human beings, but Aquinas distinguished ratio (reason) as a separate thing

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23
Q

How did Aquinas believe humans differed from animals?

A

our RATIO - of all creatures, only humans deliberate over moral matters and ratio is, therefore, a fundamental part pf the created human being.

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24
Q

Did Aquinas believe ratio was a divine gift from God?

A

YES

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25
Q

Where does the Bible say that we are made in God’s image?

A

Genesis 1:27 - “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

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26
Q

What does the Bible say that we are made in God’s image mean for our reason?

A

that reason was a divine gift from God, and was placed in every person

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27
Q

What letters of the Bible was Aquinas inspired by?

A

Paul’s letter to Romans (1:20)

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28
Q

How did Paul’s letters inspire Aquinas?

A

Paul’s letters suggest that we can move from knowledge of this world to knowledge of the eternal world.

Aquinas believed ratio, our ability to reason and to make moral judgements, connect us to the eternal realm, to the divine

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29
Q

What may Christians describe people saying they feel a powerful sense of the ‘rightness or wrongness’ of an action is?

A

a connection to a higher knowledge, some eternal or divine thought

30
Q

What does Aquinas believing ratio is what connects us to the eternal realm, to the divine, ULTIMATLY MEAN?

A

means that morality is not simply about doing that which is accepted by the many, what is culturally, socially or politically ‘normal’

31
Q

What person can be used to support this idea:

morality is not simply about doing that which is accepted by the many, what is culturally, socially or politically ‘normal’

A

POPE BENEDICT XVI

32
Q

What does Pope Benedict XVI reflect on the dangers of? What story of the bible does he use?

A

following the crowd - e.g. when the crowds condemned Jesus

33
Q

4 quotes from Pope Benedict XVI on dangers of following the crowd

A

“they are shouting because everyone is shouting, and they are shouting the same thing that everyone else is shouting”

“justice is trampled underfoot by weakness, cowardice and fear of the diktat of the ruling mindset”

“the quiet voice of reason is drowned out by the cries of the crowd”

“evil draws its power from indecision and concern for what other people think”

34
Q

Pope Benedict XVI quote - shouting

A

“they are shouting because everyone is shouting, and they are shouting the same thing that everyone else is shouting”

35
Q

Pope Benedict XVI quote - justice

A

“justice is trampled underfoot by weakness, cowardice and fear of the diktat of the ruling mindset”

36
Q

Pope Benedict XVI quote - conscience

A

“the quiet voice of conscience is drowned out by the cries of the crowd”

37
Q

Pope Benedict XVI quote - evil

A

“evil draws its power from indecision and concern for what other people think”

38
Q

What does Hannah Arendt say?

A

writing about the Holocaust, argues that when the norms of society become profoundly immoral you MUST reject them.

39
Q

Who says, writing about the Holocaust, that when the norms of society become profoundly immoral you MUST reject them.

A

Hannah Arendt

40
Q

What does Zigmunt Bauman argue? (quote)

A

morality ‘may manifest itself in insubordination towards socially upheld principles, and in an action openly defying social solidarity and consensus’

41
Q

What does Zigmunt Bauman (quote) mean for the idea of moral instinct?

A

if what he quotes is true, then the moral instinct cannot simply be the reproduction of what is seen in front of you

42
Q

How does Zigmunt Bauman (quote) support his idea of ratio?

A

because Aquinas is arguing that in ratio there is movement to something else, something higher, is what matters. It reaches beyond what is socially acceptable, to a higher morality

43
Q

Who did Aquinas believed had synderesis?

A

EVERY HUMAN PERSON

44
Q

Aquinas believed that alongside synderesis, there was also s…

A

sensuality

45
Q

What is sensuality? (in Aquinas context)

A

that which tempts us towards evil, and which was operating in the Garden of Eden when Eve and Adam were tempted to eat the forbidden fruit.

46
Q

BUT, while he thought that both synderesis and sensuality are present in human beings….

A

Aquinas was positive about the outcome of any conflict between them, as he had a positive view of human beings’ capability to lean towards the good and away from the selfish

47
Q

Is synderesis a habit, leaning or a power?

A

habit & leaning

48
Q

How can humans cultivate the habit of synderesis?

A

by using their ratio (reason)

49
Q

What did some Christian writers write about conscientia that is DIFFERENT to Aquinas?

A

that it is a spark of moral wisdom

50
Q

What is conscience for Aquinas?

A

an act within a human person (a pronouncement of the mind) arising when the knowledge gained from the application of ratio to synderesis is applied to something we do

51
Q

Direct quote from Aquinas on conscience definition?

A

‘reason making right decisions’ Aquinas, Summa Theologica

52
Q

Direct quote from Aquinas on what conscience does?

A

‘for conscience is said to witness, to bind, or incite, and also to accuse, torment, or rebuke’

53
Q

According to Aquinas, what is man’s reasoning?

A

a kind of movement which begins with the understanding of certain things that are naturally known as immutable principles without investigation. It ends in he intellectual; activity by which we make judgements on the basis of those principles

54
Q

According to Aquinas conscience is binding, EVEN when…

A

it is utterly mistaken and directs awful misdeeds

55
Q

Why is going against reason ALWAYS wrong?

A

‘everything that does not come from faith is sin’ (Romans 14:23) - PAULS WORDS

56
Q

WHAT IS AQUINAS NOT SAYING REGARDING FOLLOWING RATIO! (what is he saying?)

A

he is NOT saying that whatever you feel to be good is in fact good and you should do it

he IS saying that human beings should do what they think is right, and that human beings can, using reason, discern correctly what is right

57
Q

Why does Aquinas say that humans may sometimes make mistakes (i.e. wrong decisions)?

A

because using our reason involves knowledge, and this knowledge may be incomplete or erroneous

58
Q

Why may vincible ignorance occur?

A

because through irresponsibility/temptation of sensuality, may fail to educate themselves and may consequently act without the necessary knowledge

59
Q

What are the 2 types of ignorance?

A
  1. vincible ignorance - ‘ought to have known better’

2. invincible ignorance

60
Q

Who is MORALLY CULPABLE for their actions - vincible ignorance or invincible ignorance?

A

vincible ignorance

61
Q

What does Aquinas say about how God will treat those who display invincible ignorance?

A

he does not believe that God will condemn humans for invincible ignorance. If they fear God and live according to their conscience, God in his infinite mercy will give them salvation even though they err

62
Q

What example does Aquinas use to demonstrate that human beings MUST do what their ratio tells them is right?

A

he considers a situation where MISTAKEN reason bids a man to sleep with another man’s wife. This is clearly an evil act based on ignorance of the divine law, the commandment prohibiting adultery, that he ought to know. However, if the misjudgment comes about by thinking the woman really is his own wife and if he wants him, then his will is free from fault

63
Q

What is the point of Aquinas’ example of the man sleeping with someone not their wife either on purpose/accident?

A

although this example seem ludicrous, Aquinas is deliberately trying to emphasize that a person is not blameworthy for invincible ignorance, for making a genuine mistake, even when the mistake involves breaking the commandment against adultery, an act that the Bible suggests should be punishable by death (Deuteronomy 22:22)

64
Q

Aquinas’ powerful idea abput the duty to follow conscience led who to make a point just as curious as Aquinas’?

A

John Newman

65
Q

What does John Newman say in his letter to the Duke of Norfolk?

A

“conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ […] I shall drink - to the Pope, if you please, - still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards”

66
Q

What does this quote mean?

“conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ […] I shall drink - to the Pope, if you please, - still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards”

A

Newman was NOT suggesting disrespect to the Pope, the highest of all bishops in the Catholic Church, but rather that he was stressing that obedience to conscience is more importance than anything else. The weight of moral responsibility in life falls on the INDIVDIUAL and should not be surrendered to someone else.

67
Q

Who said;

“conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ […] I shall drink - to the Pope, if you please, - still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards”

A

John Newman in his letter to the Duke of Norfolk

68
Q

What would Aquinas/Newman say about someone who says;

“I was just following orders”

A

it is NOT ACCEPTABLE - you can’t evade your duty to moral responsibility by pleading that you are happy to do as you are told

69
Q

What does the Catholic Church conclude following Aquinas’ thinking on the conscience?

A

“it formulates its judgements according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed of the Creator”

70
Q

What is the priority in moral action (for Aquinas)?

A

following conscience

71
Q

Why do we make moral decisions when we have imperfect information? (like the ‘adultorous’ man example from Aquinas)

A

because we are finite creatures and can never have all the facts about situation available

PAPER 2 RE 2022 (3 decks)

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