Conscience Flashcards
Butler
“faculty of reason”
- human nature is hierarchical eg. basic drives , self love , “principle of reflection”, given to us by God
- Conscience is automatic
- Conscience is flawless
- Wrong to blind ones conscience - worse than evil act
- “govern the world”- powerful
- Following the divine law
Aquinas
“The faculty of reason making moral decisions”
- Natural ability to see good/bad
- Moral decisions based on reason
- Primary precepts, fulfill telos
- Synderisis = right reason
- Conscienta = application of synderisis
- if we do bad conscience has made a mistake
St Paul
“Written in our hearts”
- Part of human nature
- know deep down what is wrong/right
Freud
- Not God given
- Develops as we grow up
- Depends on parents & society
- Psyche; ID,ego,superego (internal policeman)
- No conscious control over supergo - formeed by external factors
- Culturally dependent
Newman
- Intuition approach
- Evidence for God’s existence,
“ One to whom we are responsible” - Mysteriously following a divine law
- Do not blindy obey church, conscience guides us
Piaget
- Stages in the moral reasoning linked to the child’s development
- two stages in moral development.
1. Immature conscience (ages 5-10) guilty feelings which come with discipline when we are children. It has little to do with the rational importance of an action, for all we do is seek the approval of others.
2. Mature conscience (ages 11+) person begins to develop a personal code of conduct
Fromm
- Conscience influenced by external factors
- Disobedient in society, we feel guilty and become weak and then you conform
eg. Germans brainwashed into supporting Nazi party - Influenced by media etc, guilt if we don’t conform
- Later becomes more humanistic, develops through life
Butler AO2
Strengths:
- Valid moral argument, for believers, evidence to support the idea that God exists
-G.E Moore also believed and wrote that “ Good cannot be defined yet people know what it means implying some innate sense or intuition”, inner sense of good and evil
Weakness:
- disobeying conscience is worse than the act- can be heavily criticized, eg. Paedophile abusing child. Which is worse act or disobeying conscience ?
- People do the vilest things in the name of conscience.
eg. killing prostitutes because god told them to
Newman A02
Weakness:
- Sends conflicting messages eg. some may say abortion is right, using human intelligence for the better
- which thoughts are the voice of God or delusional ?
Aquinas A02
Strengths: - humanity can reason right and wrong yet make wrong decisions and as such retained a degree of accountability for one’s actions. Weakness: - Too legalistic, results in suffering - Dismisses other views - No clear absolute truths
St Paul A02
Strengths:
- we do have an innate sense of right/wrong eg. i know it’s wrong for me to steal
- accessible for all religions
Weakness:
- equally me not stealing could be a result of parents teaching me not to
Freud A02
Strengths:
- Everyone morally accountable
- Psychology has evidence to support Freud’s ideas about the conscience. Research based
- Explains why consciences differ
- Piaget, conditioning
Weakness:
- Many of Freud’s work has been disproved, (Opedius complex)
Piaget A02
Strengths:
- all people can be morally accountable
Weakness:
- 3 stages of moral development including theonomous morality, which Piaget fails to mention. Theonomous morality is based on an understanding of God.
Fromm A02
Strengths:
- We do feel obliged to conform to what society tells us to ‘fit in ‘
- Media can easily brainwash
Weaknesses:
- Changes views later, suggests uncertainty
