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RELIGIOUS IDEAS ABOUT THE CONSCIENCE - Coggle Diagram
RELIGIOUS IDEAS ABOUT THE CONSCIENCE
AS THE INNATE VOICE OF GOD [SCHLEIERMACHER]
adopted the same approach as Augustine (that the conscience is innate and put into minds by god)
Listening to the conscience is hearing the voice of God whispering to us
here, conscience is a source of direct revelation from God, and to go against it is a sin
going against it would be a hinderance to a christian way of life
as direct revelation, it takes priority over all else
it suggests God is selective in whispering ro some and not to others
Why do some people who have claimed to spoken to god directly come up with different answers
how can an individual be sure thatbguidance comes from god and not an unconcience subjective view
if conscience is the voice of God speaking to us, we cannot be morally free
AS THE GOD-GIVEN FACULTY OF REASON [AQUINAS]
Conscience is not the innate voice of God but 'the mind of man making moral judgements'
he claimed that all humans have a natural orientation towards doing good
this is in accordance to the synderisis rule
there are 2 aspects to conscience:
using practical reason to aquire knowledge and understanding of the primary precepts of natural moral law
then distuingishing between right and wrong and making ethical jusgdemnets in each situation, using secondary precepts ro apply the primary ones
conscience may be mistaken as a result of not understanding all the facts In a situation, perhaps as the result of misinformation
this is not blameworthy
conscience can also be mistaken through ignorance and here Aquinas distinguished between:
VINCIBLE IGNORANCE: when individuals do not make every effort to be aware and understand clear church teaching on an issue (making a wrong decision through vinccible ignorance is a sin)
INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE: where individuals make every effort to fully inform their conscience but theres some ambiguity in church teaching (not a sin)
one conscience has made a judgement it must be obeyed
therefore conscience must be fully informed through prayer, sacraments, bible studying and church teaching
Ignores the fact that many peoples reasoning powers are more limited than he assumes, which is why people act irrationally
His view that humans have an natural nomination to follow the synderisis rule is over-optimistic (self-interest)
AS A GOD-GIVEN FACULTY- INTUITIVE, REFLECTIVE AND AUTONOMOUS [BUTLER]
Butler views conscience as the God-implanted faculty of moral reflection and as what distinguishes humans from animals
He had a hierarchal view of nature
he saw conscience as the ultimate mortal decision maker, making instant intuitive judgements
It was an autonomous judge, not motivated by ideas of rewarder punishment, but by its internal assessment of right and wrong
he did not think the issue of whether conscience might be mistaken was a serious one, a most people know intuitively whats right
but to suffocate conscience in order to do something wrong or to corrupt it with self-deception was worse than the actual action carried out
even though it might be misinformed, conscience must always be obeyed
Butlers claim that most people would know intuitively what is wrong or right could be seen as an over-optimistic assessment of human nature
CONSCIENCE AS AGAPE [FLETCHER]
Fletcher rejected all interpretations if conscience that treat it as a noun
conscience is a verb- its what humans do when they are using the agapeic calculus to decide how love is most afford in a particular situation