Secular Views On Conscience Flashcards
What does sigmund Freud say about conscience
Conscience is just an unconscious application of previously learnt rules.
When a desire bubbles up from the unconscious Id into our conscious ego, we become aware of wanting to act on it, but our super ego then tells us whether the values of society allow it
If so, we can act on it
If not, we have be conditioned to repress that desire.
What is conscience
Inner voice telling us what’s right or wrong
What is the conscience according to sigmund Freud
Conscience is just an unconscious application of previously learnt rules
But is still controlled by feelings of guilt
Advantage of Sigmund Freud’s idea about the conscience
Freud’s concept of he superego coheres well with how we view children cuz it aligns with how they develop a strong moral understanding and self control
His theory helps us understand how children gradually develop internalised societal norms thru parenting and society rather than assuming children simply can decipher what’s morally acceptable or not from the get-go
Places emphasis on the importance of guidance and discipline in a child’s early life.
Disadvantages of sigmund freud’s idea of the conscience
reductionalist approach, excludes the possibility of the moral compass being shaped beyond human psychology, such as God
Reduces adult behaviour to early childhood experiences, dismisses how learning, culture and personal choices continue to shape the mind pass childhood
What does Emile Durkheim suggest about the conscience
Durkheim advocated for the idea that people’s conscience is a result of Conscience sanctions or social conditioning.
We are simply a byproduct of the society in which we grow up
Advantages of Durkheim’s stance on conscience
Allow for god’s influence in society
Belief in god provides a moral obligation to obey society’s demands cuz religion brings together a collective conscience
Religion emphasises propriety/full decorum that aligns with societal norms
If moral obligations r tied w divine authority, people feel a deeper responsibility to follow them
Religion operates under a reward and punishment system, promotes self regulation, makes individuals feel accountable not just to society but to god
What does kohlberg say about the conscience
Conscience is a hierarchy that is developed throughout life
As a person gets older, the way they make decisions becomes less based on rules, and more based on innate moral principles
What does kohlberg say about how behavior is developed
Behavior is developed through human interactions
Kohlberg’s pre-conventional stage 3-7years old mentality
Punishment and obedience
E.g. a 6 year old saying ‘ i will be good at school today so i can have pizza for dinner’
Conventional stage
This stage is about social approval and following rules due to wanting to avoid guilt
E.g. following silent transition even when a teacher is not watching because you value the school rules
Some people never get past this stage
Post conventional stage
Fewest people reach this stage. It occurs when people develop a principled conscience, making decisions based on a persons sense of fairness, justice and human rights
Individualized conscience driven by feeling of guilt
E.g. speaking out against people being unfairly treated at work despite the risk of getting into trouble -whistleblowing(speaking out against an organization
E.g. during covid, Isabel oakshot a journalist leaked WhatsApp messages from Matt Hancock, health secretary at the time despite the fact that her career was hugely jeopardized because the messages were endangering public health
What is the role of the super ego
Plays a role in moral decision making.
When parents/figures of authority figures tell us what is right or wrong when we are young, the super-ego then internalizes this information which is referred to when making decisions
How does this quote ‘ custom is king’ from Herodotus strengthen Durkheim conscience coming from social conditioning/sanctions
Social customs rules everything that we deem to be right and wrong. There is nothing innately good and bad.
Everything we do that is ‘bad’ is just something we know society would disapprove of
How is the kombai tribe an example of conscience as a collective social conditioning
Until recently, the kombai tribe would kill and eat those who they thought were witches as they grew up internalizing this view that killing ‘witches’ is morally permissible as they are helping the world rid black magic
Advantage of durkheim’s social conditioning
Coheres with the evolutionary perspective on conscience as a survival mechanism
Scientists and anthropologists view conscience as a survival mechanism because it helped individuals guide their own behavior based on what’s acceptable, allowing larger and stable communities to form, conscience encourages altruism which improve the odds of long term survival
Fromm’s authoritarian and humanistic conscience
Authoritarian= comes from external authority e.g. parents, teachers, governments
People with this kind of conscience feel a strong sense of guilt or anxiety when they go against those rules
E.g. if one’s parents establishes strict rules like what time to come home and what career to pursue, if they break she rules, they will feel guilt and fear
Humanistic= driven by internal values and a deeper sense of personal responsibility
People w humanistic conscience act in ways that are true to themselves, guided by what they believe is morally right, even if it goes against authority or social expectations.
E.g. if someone feels strongly about the environment even when their friends mock them for not using plastic straws, they will follow their conscience and continue to use paper straws because it i the right thing to do to protect the environment
Counter all non-religious views of the conscience
Non-religious views highlight a problem with conscience as there is not an objective truth which governs a persons conscience.
This means that conscience isn’t based on what is right/wrong but on what society deems is right
Poses a problem for international law and human rights as they are built on the idea that some rights and wrong are universal
Without an objective truth, establishing certain rights as universal and certain acts that are wrong becomes more elusive as everyone have different interpretations of what they think is right or wrong
How to use the Nuremberg trial be used as evidence that our sources of morality cannot be purely based on society
Because if morality was based on society, we couldn’t have held nazi leaders accountable for their wrongdoings that were legal in their own country e.g. the nazis would be innocent because they were obeying their society laws in nazi germany
There must be some kind of objective conscience in order fr crimes like these to be punishable
