Conscience

Question 1

Who influenced Augustine

Answer 1

Heavily influenced by Plato, specifically the idea of a God from which all goodness emanates.

Question 2

What did Augustine’s theory state

Answer 2

His theory stated there was one true virtue called Virtue, from which all other virtues are derived from – this was God. God’s divine love pours out to humans and binds all the virtue’s together.

Question 3

Where does Augustine believe conscience comes from

Answer 3

Divine love is where our conscience comes from – when we are listening to our conscience, we are listening to the word of God. That is why we should “see God as our witness”.

Question 4

What happens when we experience God for Aquinas

Answer 4

He believed that God was so pure and divine, that when we experience him, we are revealed all our inadequacies in presence of such a purely good being, but also understand that we can never be as pure or as good as God is. Augustine’s most important point therefore is our conscience is hugely important and we should listen to it as it is what God is willing us to do.

Question 5

Who did Augustine inspire

Answer 5

Luther was an Augustinian monk who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church because he believed conscience had more divine command than the teachings of the church, and his conscience would not let him accept the teaching of the pope.

Wilberforce believed in the authority of scripture and its stance on slavery, however he followed his conscience and took part in abolishing it.

Question 6

Why did Wilberforce and Luther raise problems

Answer 6

There actions led to the question: is the conscience a higher authority than the church and the Bible?

Question 7

What other problems does Augustine face

Answer 7

If God is our conscience, why does he contradict himself and allow some to think it is acceptable to kill or steal – this also cannot clearly be God’s love, which contradicts Augustine’s theory. It is impossible to verify your conscience is the word of God, and this can lead to self-delusions.

Question 8

Why is Augustine’s theory prescriptive

Answer 8

The theory is therefore prescriptive, not descriptive – it doesn’t tell us what to do, it is just left to our conscience.

Question 9

What did Aquinas combine with Aristotle’s reason

Answer 9

Christian thinking. He believed that “reason in man is like God in the world” – our reason comes from God and therefore by using our reason, we become closer to him.

Question 10

What does Aquinas believe about innate ideas

Answer 10

We have innate rational ideas from which we can know moral rights and wrongs. Therefore, Aquinas believes that our conscience and our reason comes from God, and to disobey these is to disobey God.

Question 11

What did the New Testament say about Conscience

Answer 11

In the new testament, consciousness is defined as the “witness” to “requirements of the law” and that humans act instinctively to follow conscience. Aquinas’ natural law is recognized in this, as it states there are moral laws weaved into the nature of the universe.

Question 12

What are the two parts of the conscience for Aquinas

Answer 12

1. Synderesis: The human knowledge of moral laws through the five primary precepts (moral laws). All humans have this knowledge as it is innate and rational to us
2. Conscientia: The application of synderesis to learn and derive more moral laws from the five primary precepts

Question 13

What are the strengths of Aquinas’ theory

Answer 13

1) We can hold all humans accountable as we can all reason right and wrong, and yet choose to make the wrong decision
2) Agrees with Piaget that consciousness is born from conditioning and experience – children don’t yet have full conscience

Question 14

What are the weaknesses of Aquinas’ theory

Answer 14

1) Can be argued that following our conscience and following our reason lead to different outcomes
2) Butler argues conscience should never be questioned

Question 15

What did Butler agree with Aquinas

Answer 15

Aquinas that reason was a God given ability and that conscience will lead us to the right moral decisions. It is therefore an ability to use reason to make an informed moral decision. He believed conscience also carried its own authority as it is our moral guide assigned to us by God

Question 16

What was Butler’s view on human nature

Answer 16

Butler considered human nature as a pyramid, with conscience as the highest most divine feature. At the bottom, we have our base animal instincts which influence us without regard to consequence. Just above this were two slightly more sophisticated impulses

Question 17

What are the two impulses

Answer 17

1. Self-love: Wanting the well-being of yourself, but not in a selfish manor, simply care for yourself
2. Benevolence: Care for others around you

Question 18

What is reflection

Answer 18

Above this is the god given ability reflection, which allows us to judge our decisions and approve or disapprove. Conscience therefore is what binds both self-love and benevolence, however this process sometimes takes time to do in a situation and therefore we are presented with moral dilemmas.

Question 19

What is our Ultimate authority for Butler

Answer 19

Butler believed that conscience should be our ultimate authority, as it is what separates us from animals – being able to approve or disapprove of our own actions. He believed that: “man is conscience”. We must therefore listen to our conscience

Question 20

What are the strengths of Butler’s theory

Answer 20

1) Supports many Christian beliefs – asserts existence of God
2) Moore concurred with Butler’s view of an inner sense of Good
3) Hutcheson also argues that it is benevolence which creates morality, and therefore there is an innate moral code of helping others

Question 21

What are the weaknesses of Butler’s theory

Answer 21

1) We could therefore blame all actions on the conscience if it is ultimate authority – Aquinas also believes conscience can be misinformed
2) Morality is therefore seen differently to everyone – no objective standard – moral anarchy
3) Atheists combat Butler by stating there is nothing supernatural or beyond our own reason which influences their decisions