Conscience (U2) Flashcards
Importance of conscience?
Gaudiem et Spes, Matthew 16:26- ‘for what will it profit a man if they gain a whole world but forfeit their life’
What is Gaudiem et Spes?
Calls conscience the voice that calls us ‘to love’
- Refers to conscience as law of God in our hearts, conscience is our core
What is a moral conscience?
Capacity to differentiate between right and wrong based on church teachings, morality of community and voice of God within you
- Acts in love and service
- Key to responsible freedom/wanting to do what we want because of the value we speak
What is superego?
We are good when we do what we’re told to do
- Stores ‘shoulds’/’have tos’
- Absorb in process of growing up under influence of authority figures
- Follow superego because of fear of reections from sources of love/approval
What are the three dimensions of conscience?
Capacity, process, judgement
What is capacity? (3 dimensions of conscience)
Capacity to know and do good and avoid evil
- Fundamental sense of value and personal responsibility
- Fundamental awareness there’s a right/wrong
What is process? (3 dimensions of conscience)
Knowing how to perceive accurately and how to think correctly
- Moral disagreements=blindness/insight
- Conscience must be formed and examined (in a community)
- Seeks to know the truth and make it one’s own
- Searches for what right through accurate perception and reflection
Conscience summary?
This is the conscience I must obey to be true to myself
- All people are bound to follow their conscience faithfully in all their activity so that they may come to God
- No one must be forced to act contrary to their conscience
Symptoms of a misinformed conscience?
Rationalization, trivialization, misinformation, ends justifying immoral means, difficult to reason
What is rationalization?
Finding ways to excuse immoral behaviour
What is trivialization?
Suggesting because an immoral actions is small/common, it doesn’t matter/it isn’t actually immoral
What is misinformation?
Basing a moral idea on incorrect info/lack of info/info without context
What is ends justifying immoral means?
Suggesting the results of your bad actions justify it
What is difficult to reason?
In difficult decisions, person can act without thinking, resulting in an immoral choice when better options where available
What is the moral process of decision making?
Approaching decisions in an intentional/reasoned/reflective way, better choices are more likely to be make
- Rushing/not reflecting/not considering all options opens a door to errors and misinformed actions/conscience
- STOP
What is STOP?
S- search, look for options, what actions you want to take, circumstances and reasons, intentions?
T- think, any other options, the consequences
O- others, impact on other people, the church’s teachings, objective decisions and wisdom from others?
P- pray, reflect and pray (look for God’s wisdom), calming and helps with focus to make better decisions
What is the Conceptual Framework of Action?
Understanding of the human capacity to make things happen
The morality of a person depends on…
The subject chosen, the end in view/intention, and the circumstance of the action
What is moral sin?
A grievous matter, it is committed with full knowledge and with deliberate consent
What is the ‘who’?
The agent: The person that makes things happen with intention
- Free choice with responsibility
- Intention shapes you
- Promises and commitments shapes the person you become in the future
What is the ‘what’?
The action: what the agent does
- Actions shapes who you are (ex. gossiping, studying, shoplifting etc)
What is the ‘why’?
The motive: reason for action
- Gives a reason for why things are worth doing (always appears to be good)
- Justifies action
What is the ‘how’?
With what means: way of performing actions reflects the agent
- End/good outcome doesn’t justify means
- Gives quality to action
What is ‘with/against whom’?
When one justifies actions, the agent seeks approval/prevents disapproval from someone
- Every action is an interaction with someone else (with, for or against someone)
