Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Conscience (Aquinas' Theological View - Conscience is a real thing,…
Conscience
Aquinas' Theological View - Conscience is a real thing, linked to God
Conscience for Aquinas is based on reasoning. We have a rational and logical ability to understand whats right and wrong.
Recta Ratio (Right Reasoning) - Our ability to reason is because we are made in the image of God. However, it is our responsibility to use our god-given reasoning correctly.
Ratio (Reason) is a fundamental part of human beings & animals. Humans are the only species who have the ability to discuss moral matters - animals use instinct. Therefore Aquinas' uses this to argue that humans have a fundamental sense of higher morality , given to us by god.
Synderises
A natural inclination - seek out the good and avoid evil. People are led to evil through misguided reason when they pursue ''Apparent Goods''. Aquinas describes Synderises as a 'Natural Habit' we develop it through practice
It is nobodies actual intention to do evil, They are led into situations that they may think are good, when this isn't the case. Evil is only sought indirectly through not applying proper reasoning. Synderises is much like a safe we posess, developing our reasoning is acquiring the key to the safe
Conscientia
Practical side. What we actually do in a moral dilemma. The process of making moral judgements. The part of conscience that is the 'Act'
Similarly, in Situation Ethics, Fletcher describes conscience as a 'verb' not a 'noun' It is something you actively engage in. Aquinas says 'Conscience is not a power, but an act'
Conscience making errors
For Aquinas, the conscience is able to make errors that can be explained by our ignorance.
Vincible Ignorance - - A mistake that is a persons own fault. It is a lack of knowledge that the person is responsible for. The example is a man sleeping with someone whose not is wife because he is unaware of the moral rule about adultery. He is responsible for his error. He ought to have learnt the rule.
It is his fault because it could have been avoided is he'd practised using synderises, and learning the rule. His actions could have been avoided is he applied reason
Invincible Ignorance - Lack of knowledge for which someone is not responsible. A man knowing adulyery is wrong, but sleeps with someone else believing it to be his wife. (and she believes him to be his husband) then it is a genuine mistake.
An second example is if you were to give someone a holiday as a gift and they die on their way as a result of a plane crash. You might feel guilty, but you could not have predicted this would happen and therefore are not blameworthy for what happened.
Freud's Psychological View - Conscience is not a real thing, its a product of our psychology
Conscience is the superego at work, it can be explained psychologically. Our ''conscience'' comes from expectations from society and our parents. It is not a real thing, but a word to describe a psychological phenomenon that occurs in our unconscious minds
Conscience is a reflection of the demands placed on us by authority figures. There is a gap between the ego and the superego
We internalise the voices of authority when we are younger and these go into our superego, for example, we may be told when we are younger ''hurting people is wrong'' this reflects in the unconscious mind and in our superego as something that is bad, we feel guilt or shame if we go against these ideas.
The idea of having a conscience is a result of the guilt we feel when we feel from the two opposing forces of the psyche, the ID and the Superego - as well as the gap formed between the ego (The reality principle, who we actually are) and the superego (The ego ideal, the ideal person who we are expected to be)
Definition of conscience: A feeling of morality, an inner voice inside of us that tells us whats right/wrong. Gut instict
-