conscience Flashcards
what is conscience?
- the inner conviction that something is right or wrong
For Kholberg what are the 3 main stages of moral development?
- pre-conventional
- conventional
- post conventional
what is the pre-conventional level?
- right is what we’re rewarded for
- wrong is what we’re punished for
what is the conventional level?
-obey societies rules and avoid guilt
what is the post-conventional level?
- individual needs must give way in order to benefit society
what is the Heinz dilemma?
- a women was near death from a special kind of cancer
- there was one drug which could help her
- the drug was expensive and the druggist was charging 10X that is cost
- Heinz stole from the store to get the drug for his wife
what is Sigmund Freuds view of the conscience?
- as an aspect of the super-ego
- a psychological phenomenon
what were the 3 elements of the mind that Freud identified?
- the Id (basic physical and emotional needs)
- the Ego (rational self)
- the super ego (controlling, restraining self)
what does Freud mean that the conscience is part of the Super ego?
- given to us by authority figured (parents)
- it brings about guilt
- an active conscience tends to be a guilty conscience
examine Freuds view of the super ego and conscience?
- then it cannot be seen as the voice of God
- nothing more than a left over expression of our childhood training
Durkheims view of conscience and social conditioning?
- God is a projection of society’s powers, and a belief in God gives individuals a moral obligation to obeys society’s demands
- to disobey would be to disobey the will of God
Durkheims view of collective conscience?
- the totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average citizens in the same society
- an act is bad if the society disapproves of it
what therefore is conscience to Durkheim?
- a survival mechanism developed through people adhering to shared moral values
according to Freud what is the authoritarian conscience?
- our conscience arises out of fear of being shunned and excluded from society because we have been disobedient
what is the humanistic conscience according to Freud?
- intuitive knowledge of what is human and inhuman
for Freud what is the most supreme virtue in social systems?
- obedience
what is the view that the conscience is the innate voice of God?
- For Augustine its innate
- put into human minds by God
- it amounts to an innate knowledge of Gods moral laws
- literally as the voice of God
quote for conscience as the innate voice of God?
explanation
“in whose conscience God does not speak?”
- a source of direct revelation from God, to go against it would be a sin
what are problems with the view that conscience is the vice of God?
- the amount of evil
- being morally good requires us to make free moral decisions, if its God we’re not free
conscience as the God given faculty of reason:
- Aquinas starts with the synderesis rule
- do good , avoid evil
according to Aquinas why should the conscience always be followed?
- truth comes from God, so to go against what you think your conscience is telling you to do is to go against God
evaluation of Aquinas’ understanding of the conscience?
- seems to ignore the fact that large numbers of people act irrationally
- not everyone is aware of the synderesis rule
- many people follow the rule of self interest
for Butler what is the conscience?
- its in human nature
- placed within us by God
what does Butler mean by a ‘reflective conscience’?
- we are able to reflect morally on what we have done in the past and what we are about to do in the future
