The conscience
- 1. The Conscience Hannah & Becca
- 2. Newman • He argues the conscience is the voice of God, he is the law of our minds. This is why we must obey our conscience over all other instincts, even over the Pope. • In moral situations listening to the voice of God is the best possible thing that can lead us to making correct moral decisions. Evaluation • Some people argue Newman doesn’t offer a very clear explanation as to why he thinks the conscience is the voice of God. • People criticise Newman directly for converting to Roman Catholicism in 1845, it can be argued his conscience led him to an immoral decision which caused him to abandon all his friends and supporters without considering the consequences. • Others might argue that this was really the voice of self delusion. • If the conscience was the voice of God, he is contradicting because some people perform the exact opposite of others under the influence of the conscience. It raises the question of what the purpose of this would be.
- 3. Butler • Similarly to Newman he argues the conscience should have authority over everything. • However this is because we have a God-given ability to reason, this helps us to act as a moral judge for ourselves. • The conscience can develop, over time we become more aware and understanding of our being and it’s this reflective human nature that forms the conscience. Evaluation • It explains why people can make mistakes, they are degrading themselves. • Butler offers living a disciplined life as the solution to outweighing our selfish passions and desires. • It’s optimism of human nature is undermined, events such as the mass extermination of the Jews show human nature to be brutal. • This theory fits in with the idea that people can make decisions very quickly. Butler describes the conscience as something automatic which ‘magisterially exerts itself spontaneously’- he argues this could only be God.
- 4. Aquinas • Aquinas centres his theory on the conscience around natural law. • Human nature determines the primary precepts and our conscience is then what derives secondary precepts. It derives from basic laws what ought to be done in a particular situation. • A persons conscience could go wrong through incorrect use of reason. Eg. Helping a homeless man who spends money on drugs. However if we thought about it, we could give money to a homeless shelter- this is a better cause. • Aquinas proposes when confused about making a moral decision you should go to church and the church will interpret our reason. Evaluation • It is argued that the fundamental understanding of nature that this theory is based on is no longer consistent with a modern understanding of how nature works. • However a strength is that everyone can experience reason.
- 5. Religious Views • Hindu- You acquire the conscience from being good over many lifetimes, good actions are duties and purify the heart. A person with a conscience has knowledge of virtues and vices, good and evil. However their ideas depend on belief in reincarnation. • Buddhism- Buddha links the positive aspect of conscience to a pure heart and a calm, well-directed mind and compassion for those who endure suffering. This suggests we don’t need to experience bad things directly to know they are wrong. • Islam- Taqwa refers to right conduct or piety or guarding of oneself or guarding against evil. Taqwa requires inspiration from God. God has perfected the soul so virtue is inherent. However a weakness is that it relies on belief in God. • Protestant- Calvin argued the conscience is as important as obeying human authority. It helps us know when to break His law. When we do something wrong we feel guilt which tells us we need to repent, although not everyone feels guilt. Also, many people find the view that the conscience cannot be contradicted hard to accept when it goes against teachings of the church. A strength is that the conscience being as important as human authority makes us feel free, however people could use this to argue they can do what they want.
- 6. Freud • He argues the conscience is made up of the id, ego and superego. These parts must balance out in order to become a successful human being. • Another big part of how the conscience forms is through the psychosexual stages. We go through these up until the age of 11, if we become fixated in one of them, the conscience cannot develop properly. Eg. If we are overly punished in infancy for messing ourselves this can lead to too much guilt and overthinking. If we are not taught properly to use the toilet we would act on impulse with too little guilt. It is essentially this guilt that is the conscience and it is through moral teachings in infancy, (usually from parents) which help us develop this. Evaluation • Religious theorists like Newman argue that it’s unclear how anyone can have a perfect conscience if there are so many stages at which it can falter. • There isn’t a lot of clear evidence for an id, ego and superego. • However Freud would counter that nobody does have a perfect conscience.
- 7. Piaget • He believed that by studying human behaviour, you could see how the conscience develops over time. It isn’t something humans are born with. He highlighted 4 developmental stages. • 0-2 years- Babies learn about the world around them through their senses, they become able to differentiate themselves from the world around them. • 2-7 years- Children develop language, although they find it hard to see the world from a viewpoint other than their own. • 8-11 years- They are able to think logically to develop explanations about the world around them. • 11-15 years- They can reason using abstract concepts. They begin to think about the future, and hypothetical and ideological issues. • According to this model, a person doesn’t have a fully functioning conscience before the age of 11, therefore it cannot be given to us by God at birth.
- 8. Fromm • His authoritarian view of the conscience is made up of external influences such as parents and teachers, their teachings are internalised by the individual- the external influences are not perfect which explains why people make mistakes. • A guilty conscience is a result of displeasing authority. • A good example of this would be in Nazi Germany where people were persuaded to feel guilt for helping or not harming the Jews. Their consciences were misled and influenced by the immoral consciences of the government. • This raises the issue of how the conscience could possibly be the voice of God when it can lead people to committing terrible crimes against nature. Evaluation • Theorists like Aquinas would argue this is our fault from applying incorrect use of reason and following apparent goods.
- 9. Fromm • The humanistic conscience is much healthier since it assesses and evaluates our behaviour. • He says this form of conscience is used to judge how successful we are as people and leads us to realise our full potential. We use our own discoveries in life and the teachings and examples of others to give us personal integrity and moral honesty. Evaluation • This is the opposite to the obedience and conformity of the authoritarian consciences.