Conscience

Conscience according to aquinas

• The natural ability of a rational human being to understand the difference between right and wrong, which he called Conscientia.

• Conscience allows us to figure out secondary precepts from primary precepts.

• It is not the 'voice of God' or an intuitive guide but the ability to apply moral knowledge to the situation.

Ways conscience can go wrong according to aquinas

• Invincible Ignorance: A person might not be aware of the relevant moral principle. For conscience to work, a person needs to have some background information about what is considered right and wrong. (Not morally responsible)

• Vincible Ignorance: A person might know and agree to a general moral principle, but be unaware that it applied in a set situation (morally responsible)

Aquinas - conscience applied to lies and breaking promises

• Telling lies and breaking promises are considered irrational because they conflict with the synderesis rule to seek to do good and avoid evil and violate the primary precept of living in an ordered society.

• Aquinas considers the "mad axe-murderer" situation as an exceptional circumstance where telling an evasive truth might be justified.

Aquinas - conscience as a guide for adultery

• Aquinas views adultery as wrong dictated by reason (conscience)

• Aquinas does not believe that conscience is infallible; he thinks it can make mistakes

• Mistaken conscience - Aquinas gives an example of a man who unknowingly marries a widow and engages in sexual relations with her, only to later discover that her husband was still alive.

• Aquinas says that there is no fault in following a mistaken conscience in situations where there is genuine lack of knowledge of the true facts of the case.

Aquinas - value of conscience as a moral guide

• Conscience is the only way we can make practical decisions as the Primary Precepts alone do not tell us how to respond to specific circumstances

• It could be said to have limited value due to its ability to err, and Aquinas thinks it is best if people have knowledge of scripture before using their conscience.

Conscience according to st Augustine

• Conscience was the voice of god. This voice informed the moral agent of what is right and wrong. When an agent listens to their conscience, they are hearing the word of god whispering about what is right and what is wrong.

• "In everything you do, see god as your witness"

• The conscience is always there telling us how to overcome our sinful nature

St Augustine - conscience applied to lies and breaking promises

Augustine would argue that our guilt at lying is the voice of God warning that we have sinned

St Augustine - value of conscience as a moral guide

Argues human nature is so corrupted by the Fall that we need God's voice to guide us towards what is right.

Conscience according to butler

• Conscience is an innate moral guide

• It is a capacity that separates us from animals and is intuitive rather than rational.

• For Butler there are two parts to human nature: self-love and love of others. Conscience allows us to balance these and ensure that we show benevolence

Butler - conscience applied to lies and breaking promises

• Would be in favour of doing what we see to be the right course of action and if that includes these actions, then it would be our choice to do it.

• If these actions were to lead to the benevolence of others then it would be the right couse of action. In addition, if these actions benefit us, then they could be see to be a moral obligation to follow it.

• Could be seen as potentially selfish behaviour and therefore a failure to follow the highest principle of human reason

Butler - conscience as a guide for adultery

• if the conscience sees it to be benevolent and leading to happiness, then it could be permissible.

• However, adultery is more challenging to allow as while there might be self-love here, it would be superseded by the suffering caused towards the person's partner and the emphasis is on the interests of others, instead of focusing on ourselves.

• This would also bring in to question the act of adultery where a marriage contains children as they would need to be a consideration and likely to be a conditioning factor in not committing adultery.

Butler - value of conscience as a moral guide

Conscience has absolute authority and should always be obeyed.

Conscience according to Freud

Conscience is the superego: the internalisation of reward and punishment from childhood that leads to a feeling of guilt

Three elements in the mind

• The ego is the rational self

• The id is the self at the level of its physical and emotional needs

• The super-ego is the controlling, restraining self

Freud - conscience applied to lies and breaking promises

• A Freudian analysis would only begin with the arrival of feelings of guilt, anxiety and remorse surfacing from the subconscious mind of the individual who tells a lie or breaks a promise. These would be the repository of parental commands (or those of some other authority) not to lie or to break one's promises, where the influence of that authority is so great that the individual cannot escape its psychological command.

• Both telling lies and breaking promises are common in modern society, so on Freud's account this would explain why the super-ego remains quiet in some people; presumably their parents saw no problem with such acts and made no prohibition to their children about committing them. There is little or no sense here of the conscience treating lying/breaking promises as a moral issue.

Freud - conscience as a guide for adultery

• Freud would say that most of us avoid these acts due to being punished for them as children.

• However, a society in which polygamy or sexual promiscuity are more widely practiced might not enforce rules as strictly so individuals may not experience guilt when committing adultery.

• The conscience therefore depends on the force of society.

Freud - value of conscience as a moral guide

• Because the purpose of the superego is to counteract the id, which will act upon the pleasure principle regardless of the consequences. The superego allows us to learn the rules of society and therefore foster positive social relationships.

• Because it does not have a divine source but is instead dependent on upbringing

• There is no external viewpoint from which we can judge what the right and wrong rules are

Conscience according to Fromm

The voice that makes moral decisions, and it can take two forms, one positive and one negative

Authoritarian conscience

A state in which an individual is alienated from themselves and comes to see themselves as carrying out the wishes of another moral agent, who has authority over them e.g. Nazis who believe themselves to just be following orders

Humanistic conscience

The true voice of an individual's human nature; their ability to freely act upon their own moral judgments without being guided by an authoritarian figure.

Fromm - conscience applied to lies and breaking promises

• Would probably be seen as socially destructive, since the stability of society depends on keeping promises and avoiding lies.

• Might follow from Fromm's idea of the authoritarian conscience: the individual might not break a promise for fear of society's disapproval. Further, the humanistic conscience would inform the individual that telling lies or breaking promises would violate the ethical norms that society needs in order for life to be fruitful.

Fromm - conscience as a guide for adultery

• Marriage today is seen not so much as a religious ceremony but as a social contract, and it can be broken at the will of those who contract into it.

• Whereas adultery used to be seen as a sin against God's laws, it is now more of a reason to terminate the marriage contract where husband and wife so desire. The only morality involved is that of keeping or breaking a contract.

Fromm - value of conscience as a moral guide

• Authoritarian conscience has no moral value as irrespective of the authority we are following, it discourages independence and critical thought.

• In contrast, the humanistic conscience has a high degree of value as it encourages us to be the best version of ourselves and to act autonomously.

• Therefore whether conscience has value depends what form of conscience we are adopting.

Buddhism link - Peter Harvey views on conscience

• Hiri = self respect, the tendency to avoid actions that degrade oneself

• Ottappa = regard for consequences, an understanding of karma

• The practice of mindfulness allows an individual to be present and therefore conscious of their effect on the world

• Conscience is something to be cultivated by following the eightfold path through life, it is not the 'voice' of a higher being but instead the workings of a clear and focused mind

• Awareness of the three poisons and a desire to rid the mind of these will lead to performing acts that are kusala

• Akusala actions done with knowledge and intent lead to more karmic harm and guilt is important in making us aware of this

• However, according to Harvey guilt should only be preventative and should not lead to further "mental turbulence"