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NON-RELIGIOUS VIEWS ON THE CONSCIENCE - Coggle Diagram
NON-RELIGIOUS VIEWS ON THE CONSCIENCE
AS BEHAVIOUR DEVELOPED THROUGH SOCIAL INETRACTION [KOHLBERG]
Defined 6 stages of moral development from birth in 3 levels:
1) PRE-CONVENTIONAL:
stage 1 is about obedience to socially accepted norms, and understanding disobedience will result in punishment
at stage 2 is individual behaviour is determined by what os in their best interest
2) CONVENTIONAL STAGE:
stage 3 is the desire to do what will gain the approval of others
stage 4 is responding to what is seen as ones duty through obedience to the law
3) POST-CONVENTIONAL STAGE:
stage 5 reveals an understanding of social interaction and genuine interest in the welfare of others
stage 6 is based on respect for universal principles and the demands of the individual conscience (few people reach tis stage)
Some may challenge this view of conscience, following Humes view that reason should be a slabe of the passions
they might see conscience more as the product of intuition
AS AN ASPECT OF THE SUPER-EGO [FREUD]
Freud distinguished between 3 aspects of the mind:
The ID is the unconwscience and instinctive part pf the personality that consists of our basic emotional needs and desires including:
eros : instant for love, sexuality and satisfaction
Thanos: desire for aggression, violence and death
The EGO is the rational self act realises we have to take others into account and acts as a brake on the ID
The SUPER-EGO , developed in early childhood, is the internalised thought of parental authority
it continues the role of commanding, threatening etc that was carried out by parents and other authority figures in society
conscience is the negative aspect of the super-ego, expressing itself consciously or unconsciously as guilt or shame
the reductiveness of Freuds views of conscience is challanges
he gives a limited and extremely narrow role to it
AS SANCTIONS OR SOCIAL CONDITIONING [DURKHEIM]
As a sociologists, Durkheim views the conscience in terms of social conditioning
He saw God as a projection of society powers and a useful tool in reinforcing the demands made by the individual conscience
he developed the idea of a collective conscience - an act that is bad because it opposes the view of society and of the common conscience
He also saw conscience as a survival mechanism
people sticking to shared morals leads to society becoming stronger
It doesnt count for the conscience of people who have throughout history challenges their social groups from outside
e.g Old Testament prophets , Jesus of Nazareth, Archbishop Oscar Romero
THE AUTHORITARIAN AND HUMANISTIC CONSCIENCE [FROMM]
As a German Jew fleeing Nazi fascism, Fromm identified 2 ways in which conscience might be experienced
The authoritarian conscience is an internalised response based on fear to the demands of an authoritarian society
disobedience creates a guilty conscience
this conscience arises out of fear of being shunned and excluded from society because we have been disobedient
e.g the nazis manipulation of the conscience of many Germans to feel guilty for not helping harming Jews
The humanistic conscience is much more positive
this aspect of the conscience understands and seeks what will lead to human and social flourishing
its not afraid to challenge elements of society that have been destructive to human wellbeing