Unit 2 (Final) Flashcards
Narcissism
Excessive self-interest or admiration; a personality trait characterized by grandiosity, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others.
Humanism
a worldview centred on human interest and values, and the individual’s capacity for self-realization through reason and action. Humanists generally reject reference to the divine.
Secularism
a worldview that rejects religion and religious considerations. Secularists accept only critical reason.
Conscience
our most secret core and sanctuary where we are along with God whose voice echoes in our depths
A voice that calls us “to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil”
The inner voice tells us “at the right moment: do this, shun that”
A law inscribed in human hearts by God
Natural Law
human participation in God’s eternal law through our capacity to reason and it is also understood as the law that is “written on the human heart” by God
This natural law is knowable to all people. Because God works through our capacity to reason, one doesn’t need to have religious faith to understand it.
All people are bound by the natural law.
Superego
In Freudian psychology, the superego is the part of the personality that represents internalized ideals and standards of behavior. It operates as a moral conscience, incorporating parental and societal values.
Six Aspects of the Human Person:
- The importance of others
- The importance of having a direction in life
- The importance of communication and language
- The importance of character and one’s body
- The importance of conscience
- The importance of the development of one’s conscience
Comparison of Conscience to Freud’s Superego:
Conscience
Conscience is not a feeling that something is right or wrong, not a feeling of guilt
Conscience is love-driven and come from within (internal/my choice)
Conscience can be a signal to alert us that something is amiss
When we do good things because we ‘want to’ and feel a need to do them out of love, it’s our conscience.
For example, if I return an item that I have stolen out of love for justice and respect for others, it is my conscience at work.
NOT the feeling of failure we experience when doing something wrong (smoking)
NOT the fear of punishment we experience if we break our curfew
Superego
The commands of the superego are fear-driven and come from other people (external)
“shoulds” and “have-tos” absorbed through the process of growing up under the influence of authority figures
For example, if I return an item that I have stolen out of fear of eventually getting caught, the superego is directing my actions.
Kant’s View on Conscience vs. Superego:
Kant would likely support conscience as the guiding force of goodness, as it involves personal autonomy and rational moral judgment, which aligns with his emphasis on individual moral responsibility.
Example: Kant would argue that an action guided by one’s conscience out of a sense of duty to universal moral laws is morally superior to actions driven solely by societal expectations represented by the superego.
Three Senses of Conscience:
Capacity: The inherent ability to discern right from wrong.
Process: The ongoing reflection and decision-making regarding moral choices.
Judgment: The final determination of the moral rightness or wrongness of an action.
Example: A person’s capacity for conscience enables them to recognize a moral dilemma, engage in a process of ethical deliberation, and make a judgment based on their values.
Development of Conscience
Influenced by upbringing, cultural and societal norms, education, personal experiences, and reflection on moral principles.
Begins in childhood and continues throughout life, evolving in complexity and depth.
Four Kinds of Conscience
- Well-Formed Conscience: This conscience is formed by the various ways that your conscience develops. At times, having a well-formed conscience entails recognizing one’s own guilt from past wrongdoings and what such an experience taught.
Ex. Once Sam was released from prison, he turned down his friend’s offer to rejoin the crime ring to which Sam had belonged to previously. While in prison, he read the Bible and was counselled by a priest that had shown him the error in his ways. - Lax Conscience: Not being concerned about whether or not an act is right or wrong.
Ex. When Joe finished building a basement apartment in his house, he took all the industrial garbage and threw it in a ditch down the side of a country road.
Legalistic Conscience: Obeying rules perfectly; following the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law.
Ex. Beatrice goes to school every day, even when she is sick.
Wrongly-Formed/Malformed Conscience: Conscience formed on information that is mistaken. We think that we are doing the right thing, when in fact we are doing something evil in order to affect a desired good or we can even find ourselves in a situation that makes it almost impossible to reason out the right course of action.
four symptoms of misinformed conscience
Rationalization – “It’s okay to do this because…”
Misinformation – “Somebody told me it was okay…”
Means to an end – “It’ll be better in the long run…”
Difficult to reason – “I should have thought about it first, maybe there was a better way…”
Four kinds of guilt
Warranted Guilt: When we know an act is wrong and we do it anyway and then recognize and accept that what we did was in fact wrong. Ex. Ron knew that it would seriously hurt Sarah if he stole her portable CD player. She loved music so much. He felt guilty after stealing it.
Unwarranted Guilt: There is no real justifiable reason to feel guilty. This guilt occurs when we have a wrongly formed conscience. Ex. Huck Finn helped Jim escape slavery and then felt guilty for helping him because slavery was legal in the civil law.
Too Little Guilt: Becoming accustomed to sin and therefore feeling immune to wrongdoing. This guilt occurs when we have a lax conscience. Ex. After selling drugs for 10 years, Toby said he just didn’t care. He said, “Hey, if people want to buy it then that is their business. I’m not responsible.”
Excessive Guilt: This is guilt out of proportion to the severity of the wrongdoing. This guilt occurs when we have a legalistic conscience. Ex. Tracey cried the first time she was late for class. She felt like she was a “bad” student.
Four Conditions for the Application of the Principle of Double Effect:
The act itself must be morally good or sufficiently serious.
Your intent is to produce the good effect.
The good result must be produced directly by the action. The bad effect is not the way that the good effect is produced.
The act is not inherently wrong.
