Conscience Flashcards
What is the difference between conscious and conscience
Conscious = awareness
Conscience = awareness of morality
What is synderisis
Our God given natural inclination to do good and avoid evil
How do we develop the habit of synderisis
Use reason
How does Aquinas’s view on conscience vary from traditional Christian views
Traditional view - conscience is the voice of God
Aquinas - conscience is linked indirectly to God through our God given reason
Why does Aquinas say conscience is not the direct voice of God
Everyone’s conscience tells them different things, because people missaply their reason to synderisis
What is a real good
An action which is actually good and consistent with the moral principles of natural law
What is an apparent good
An action which someone mistakenly thinks is a real good, but they have not applied their reason correctly
What is phronesis and why is it important
Practical wisdom, developed through practice
Helps us avoid apparent goods
What is vincible ignorance
Lack of knowledge for which a person is responsible
It is avoidable and correctable
What is invincible ignorance
Lack of knowledge for which a person is not responsible
They act to the best of their knowledge but still get it wrong
Why do we need to follow our conscience even though it could be wrong
going against it would mean actively seeking something which out conscience tells us is bad, which is wrong
Who was Freud
19th to 20th century psychologist and renowned atheist
What did Freud believe that conscience was (summarised)
Synonym for guilt and can be explained psychologically
What is psychoanalysis
Founded by Freud
Form of Psychology that treats mental disorders through analysis of our unconscious mind
What are the three layers of the mind according to freud
Conscious
Subconscious
Unconscious
What is the conscious
Thoughts and desires that we are aware of and experience
What is the subconscious
Thoughts and desires that we aren’t experiencing but may surface to the conscious at some point
What is the unconscious
Thoughts and desires that are buried beneath the surface of our mind and cannot be retrieved without psychoanalysis
What are the 3 stages of the development of our personality
Id, ego, superego
What is the id
Our instinctive impulses that seek satisfaction in pleasure
What is the ego
Mediates between the id and demands of social interaction
What is the superego
Contradicts id, based on the internalised ideals from authority figures
What are the 5 psychosexual stages of development
Oral (pleasure gained through mouth - breastfeeding)
Anal (pleasure gained through anus - potty trained)
Phallic (pleasure gained through the penis - becomes fascinated with sexual organs)
Latent (no sexual motivation present)
Genital (pleasure gained through penis)
What is the Oedipus complex
Male child develops a fixation for his mother, perceives the father as an obstacle to the fulfillment of these sexual desires
Child becomes fearful of the father until they eventually come to identify with him and admire him
When does the Oedipus complex develop in relation to the 5 psychosexual stages and the development of our personality
Phallic stage of the development when the id is in control of personality
How do the ego and superego relate to the Oedipus complex
When the ego and superego develop the child internalised ideas of shame and guilt about their sexual desires towards their mother, in the unconscious mind
How does the genital stage link to the Oedipus complex
In the genital stage, the child has unconscious recollection of warnings from authority figures to ignore sexual feelings, causing guilt
As it is in the unconscious mind, we dont know where this guilt feeling comes from so we use God as an explanation
Summarise Freud’s idea of where conscience comes from
Phallic stage of development, id in control: Oedipus complex begins
Ego and superego develop: child internalised ideas of shame and guilt about their sexual desires towards the mother in the unconscious mind
Genital stage of development: unconscious recollection of guilt they felt as a child about their sexual feelings
This feeling of guilt is what we call the conscience
