Ethics – Conscience Flashcards
What is conscience?
a person’s moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one’s behaviour.
Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development
pre-conventional, conventional, and post conventional
Kohlberg’s pre-conventional stage
‘punishment and obedience’ – our understanding of right and wrong is dependent on what we are rewarded for and punished for
Kohlberg’s conventional stage
development of good inter-personal relationships, and concludes with the decision to obey society’s rules and thus void guilt. Many never get past this stage
Kohlberg’s post-conventional level
final stage is the level of an individualised conscience. The conscience directs that moral choices must be consistent and universable. To go against conscience leads to feelings of guilt
Super-ego
The part of the unconscious mind which controls the instincts that can damage society (eros and thanatos); it is the repository of parental commands delivered from infancy, together with the commands of other authority figures; it manifests through feelings of guilt, remorse and anxiety
eros
eros is the life instinct/ the instinct for sexual gratification
thanatos
the instinct for aggression, violence and death
how does the super-ego develop a person’s morality?
acts as an ‘inner parent’
the conscience is an aspect of the operation of the super-ego. The rules and regulations are internalised so we cannot escape them.
What does Freud say that our conscience is a result of
our childhood, our parent’s commands are internalised
What does Freud’s views mean for religion?
If conscience is simply an expression of our unconscious application of rules, then it cannot be seen as a voice of God
How are the values for Freud’s argument reduced?
it presents conscience simply as a conformity to parental expectations. This reduces the value of conscience
What does Durkheim think conscience is
social conditioning – the sanctions that the group brings to bear on the individual
Durkheim’s explanation of conscience
a perception of loyalty to the group – for example, having a guilty conscience about the food you eat is your fear of society judging you for being too fat or too thin – to say that someone has no conscience is simply to say that they are socially maladjusted
Collective conscience – Durkheim
Conscience which is organic to the social group as a whole – an act is socially bad simply because society disproves it
Durkheim’s evolutionary perspective on conscience
Conscience is a survival mechanism developed through people adhering to its shared moral values
Authoritarian conscience
the aspect of conscience which represents the internalised voice of a disapproving society which we are afraid to disobey
Humanistic conscience
the aspect of the conscience that has an intuitive knowledge of what is human and inhuman: what makes life flourish and what destroys it – a common response of the humanistic conscience is disobedience, where that brings about flourishing
Where does Fromm think conscience comes from?
arises out of fear of being shunned and excluded from society because we have been disobedient – he doesn’t think that it would be the inner voice of our deepest nature or convinctions
Innate conscience
inborn conscience – originating in the mind
Augustine’s view of conscience
conscience is innate – put into human minds by God, amounts to an innate knowledge of God’s moral laws
Schleiermacher’s view of conscience
conscience is a source of direct revelation from God – to go against it is not a sin, but a hindrance to a Christian way of life – it takes priority over everything else
Problems of conscience is the voice of God speaking to individuals
- evil and suffering suggests that either God is selective in choosing or people are ignoring the voice of God
- it makes ethical discussion and decision-making redundant
- if the conscience is God’s voice then we are not morally free
- throughout history of the Christian Church, Christians have disagreed about moral principles through appealing to these God-given conscience, how is it that there are different answers if they are all from God?
Aquinas’ view of conscience
the God-given faculty of reason
The Synderesis rule
all human beings seek to do good and avoid evil – they have a natural orientation towards the Good – ‘Good should be done and pursued and evil should be avoided’ is a principle that must govern all human reasoning
Aquinas’ view on innate conscience
innate conscience is not the voice of God telling them what to do – rather it is the God-given faculty of reason
Features of Aquinas’ conscience
it is fallible/ it can be mistaken:
- if it is ignorant of the moral law that should be applied, then the person is guilty of sin since they should know the law
- it can go wrong if it is not informed about the facts of the case
Weaknesses of Aquinas’ argument
ignores the fact that large numbers of people act irrationally because their reasoning powers are limited
Strengths of Aquinas’ argument
realistic to say that conscience is not infallible – emphasis on the use of reason is a good argument, since reason allows us to make a freely chosen moral decision, which to many is the essence of being a moral being
Butler’s view on conscience
conscience is in human nature: it is a reflective principle placed within us by God
What is Butler’s analysis of the conscience based on?
prudence - our natural love of self (egoism)
benevolence - our natural love of others (altruism)
conscience is that part of the hierarchy of the self which judges between prudence and benevolence
How does conscience work intuitively for Butler?
consciousness is intuitive and an autonomous judge: there is no sense of approval or disapproval, it is motivated solely by its internal criteria of what is right and what is wrong. It is a natural ability given to human beings, not the voice of God
