Conscience

Question 1

Aquinas key terms

Answer 1

Ratio- Reason placed in every person due to being created in the image of God. (Genesis1:27)
Synderesis - Inner principle directing a person towards good and away from evil.
Conscientia - A person’s reason making moral judgements.
Vincible ignorance - Lack of knowledge for which a person is responsible.
Invincible ignorance - Lack of knowledge for which a person is not responsible.

Question 2

Freud key terms

Answer 2

Id – Instinctive impulses that seek satisfaction in pleasure.
Ego – Mediates between the id and the demands of social interaction.
Superego - Contradicts the id and working on internalised ideals from parents and society tries to make the ego behave normally.

Question 3

Freud

Answer 3

A psychological approach to conscience developed from his consultation with middle class Venetian women from which he developed the id, the ego, the superego. Id – Instinctive impulses that seek satisfaction in pleasure. Ego – Mediates between the id and the demands of social interaction. Superego - Contradicts the id and working on internalised ideals from parents and society tries to make the ego behave normally.
From these conflicting areas of the mind, Freud developed the conscience
Almost interchangeable with the word ‘guilt’ as the super-ego causes feelings of shame and guilt when the id acts in violation of the ego’s rules
Repression of the id causes neurosis and is the cause of most unhappiness for most people

Question 4

Freud advantages

Answer 4

Not reliant on a God instead the mind is split into three parts
Effectively highlights aspects of guilt linked to childhood

Question 5

Freud disadvantages

Answer 5

Ideas of psychosexual development and the Oedipus complex that go too far – bizarre sexual desires and instincts

Question 6

Counter to disadvantages - Freud

Answer 6

Expressing a point that our ego will not allow us to express our desire to kill our fathers and sleep with our mothers

Question 7

Disadvantages of Freud’s counter

Answer 7

Not easily applied to both sexes and unclear how to take knowledge further

Question 8

Aquinas’ approach

Answer 8

Builds on idea that conscience is part of people and not just sexually-orientated around men – more subtle and rationally developed ad instead of having a threesome of tightening desires and controlling mechanisms argues that human nature is rational and all parts of the conscience work together. Synderesis (explain) – infallible, within us and is God-given
Works in conjunction with the ‘ratio’ and ‘consientia’ and allows practical applications of logic to varying situations, known as prudence

Question 9

Aquinas advantages

Answer 9

Convincing for those who don’t think conscience can be reduced to socialization
-absolute right/wrongs appeals to those who do not think relativism provides an adequate reason for trying to be good

Question 10

Aquinas disadvantages

Answer 10

Assumes the existence of God, which is not an assumption everyone accepts
-Belief of absolute right/wrongs needs justification as relativists would disagree - Freud more helpful as secular?
View of human nature overly optimistic

Question 11

Augustine’s criticism of Aquinas

Answer 11

Augustine - That it is the direct voice of God. We can sense right and wrong as God reveals it to us directly. The conscience is the highest moral authority in decision making

Question 12

Disadvantage of Augustine

Answer 12

Allows for humans to make mistakes through ignorance
if conscience was actually God then there would be little room for error because God is a superior being and cannot be wrong

Question 13

Vincible/Invinsible ignorance e.g.

Answer 13

Vincible - Lack of knowledge for which a person is responsible.
Aquinas’ example - A married man sleeps with a woman who he knows is not his wife as he is unaware of the law ‘do not commit adultery’ he should have found out
Invisible - Lack of knowledge for which a person is not responsible.
A married man sleeps with a women who is not his wife, but honestly believes her to be his wife and she believes he is her husband.

Question 14

Freud and meta-ethics

Answer 14

Ties to ideas of meta-ethics expressing ideas like Mackies that ideas of good comes from the beliefs of an intuition

Question 15

Fromm

Answer 15

Fromm – respected Freud but misogynistic, limited and too focused on sexual desires and the libido
Authoritarian account of conscience. It is an internalised conscience based upon the values of authority e.g. government. However humans have the potential to live freely and we must have an autonomous and humanitarian conscience which can thrive if we internalise our Authoritarian conscience

Question 16

How is Fromm successful (Conclusion)

Answer 16

Shows what consciences are and what they should be and how they can be which both Aquinas and Freud fail to fully do