Ethics- CONSICENCE NOTES

Nature & Role of conscience

A persons moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a

guide to ones behaviour (oxford dictionary)
Reasons making right decisions St. Thomas Aquinas
Our natural guide, the guide assigned to us by the author of our
nature- Joseph Butler

ST AUGUSTINE (AD 334-430)

Augustine was a Platonist

He believed in one god; the source of all goodness (form of God)
All virtues like patience and chastity flow from God as divine love
Conscience emerges from this outflow of divine love. It is God
speaking to individuals and reveals itself in solitary moments.
For Augustine, conscience is an experience of God; the voice of God
speaking to us, which we must seek within ourselves
It revels the most God-Like behaviour, so brings us into close unity
with God
When we experience God, we realise our own inadequicies
God is perect love & virtue- experiencing this makes us see our own
faults next to his greatness.

Augustines view had an effect on later thinkers- if the conscience comes

from God, then it is at the centre of moral decision making.
Problems this view poses on conscience:
1) The bible allows slavery in Pauls letter to phileman & condems gay
sexual acts. Where does this lead the authority of the biblefollow
conscience or the bible? Wilberforce & Desmond Tutu. If conscience
is the voice of God- why does it conflict with the bible.
2) Authority of church teachings. Eg. Luther & reformation, the catholic
church does not support the use of contraceptionconscience
conflict with teaching of RC church?
3) The voice of God cannot be contradicted; if from God & it should be
followed. Hard to verify as God & self delusion.
4) Humans are selfishly motivated and lack objectivity.
5) The conscience can send people in different directions eg. 1551
Toulouse Revolt.
ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1224-1274)
Aquinas did not believe that the conscience was an inner knowledge of
right and wrong, but a device for distingusishing right from wrong.

Instead of the voice of God; it is the tool of reasoning from knowledge and
experience.
The conscience is the application of reason to derive what should be done
in any given situation and this is based on natural law.
Seen as an intellectual and rational approachreason is required to
assess the purpose of things and what actions will promote such purpose.
The conscience Is the application of knowledge to activity Summa
Theologica

Using reason, humans can work out the purpose of all things
Acting morally is to act in accordance with these natural ends
Right action is the golden mean, the situation when something
works efficiently by avoiding extremes of excess and deficiency
(adopting a child rather than IVFOrdered society)

Synderisis vs Conscientia:
Synderisis: identified with right reason; an awareness of the moral
principle to do good and avoid evil. This is gaining knowledge and
sifting through evidence logically, not following a command.
Conscientia: the process of applying right reason to a specific issue.
Aquinas believed we had an inclination towards good and away from evil
because of Synderisis.
He believed we made moral mistakes because we made a mistake in our
reasoning: Conscientia.
Our consciences can be mistaken and follow apparent goods rather than
real goods (aborting an unplanned pregnancy when conception should
leave to birth).
We are fallible human beings, but knowledge of divine law helps us avoid
such mistakes.
Aquinas believed people sometimes do evil deeds because they make
mistakes, pursing apparent goods rather than real goods.
Problems this view poses on conscience:
1) What about societies that have different views on things; how can
the conscience vary?
2) How can people come to completely different views on an ethical
issue when using the conscience if the conscience always points to
the telos of goodness (ie abortion).
3) The conscience is linked to NL theory; does Aquinas theory work if
we disagree with natural law?

4) Sometimes things are right in principle, but not in action (pacifism);

how can the conscience lead to right actions merely from reasoning?
Judith Butler, it is an impossible step from a principle to an action.
BISHOP JOSEPH BUTLER (1692-1752)

Theologian
Influenced by Aristotle & Aquinas
Saw conscience as the faculty of reflection which set us apart from
all other sentient beings and makes us aware of our own situation
and try to understand our being (something animals dont do)
.humans ask questions, animals dont.
Our reflective nature develops our conscience.
For Butler, the voice of God within is not selfless but selfish.
Butler takes the golden rule in everything you do to others as you
would have done to you Matthew 7:12, requires love & self respect.
Butler believed we are governed by self-love & benevolence (love of
others)
The conscience directs us towards love of others and stay away
from self-love.

The rolls sermons:

Butler wrote about the conscience in the Rolls Sermons, which were
written and preached at the termly opening of law courts to lawyers
hearing criminal cases.
He argued criminals commit crimes because they have no conscience,
since they have no intuitive sense of their own worth, leading to lack of
respect for others.
They do not love themselves, which is why they commit crimes; they have
no respect for themselves thus others too.
Butler believed one needed self respect to become a person of God.
Analogy of religion to the constitution and course of nature:

In this Butler makes a link between God, nature and morality.

God created natural order and moral sense is embedded in all
human beings.
Innate moral sense is the conscience.
It fails in criminals because they have allowed their conscience to be
degraded by degrading themselves: they have low self esteem.

Solution to craving

To live a disciplined lifewe have a innate desire for virtue and a moral
life. Created in the image of God, we exist to be happy and live the moral
life will bring us that.
Butler vs Aquinas
Like Aquinas, Butler believed the conscience could determine and judge
morality. Unlike Aquinas, he believed the conscience had a more intuitive
role- it was less reflective and more instinctive.
The conscience and God
For Butler, the conscience was pit into us by God as our natural guide,
therefore is something is commanded of you, you must not question it.
The conscience develops humans

We are made in Gods image

We exist to be happy
The moral life brings happiness
Passion craving must be overcome to develop morality
The conscience is our natural guided and will offer humans
fulfilment

CRITISISMS:
1) Is it dangerous to sat we should follow the voice inside our head?
2) Can we tell the difference between our conscience and our own
reason?
3) Is it possible for the conscience to be misinformed?
4) Can the conscience lead to bad moral choices such as genocide?
5) Could the conscience be used to justify any action especially for
personal gain?
6) Is it wrong to suggest that the conscience is lacking because of selfesteem?
7) Do people commit crime because of low self esteem or is it more
about confidence (too much self regard?)
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN (1801-1890)

The conscience is a central feature of Newmans ethical theory

He wrote in The grammar of assent that the conscience is
independent of any system of authority
Humans possess and innate sense of right & wrong
The development of the moral sense of is an impulse of nature that
starts in childhood and continues to develop through life
There is a link between what is morally wrong and what is against
God

In a reversal of claims of many modern neo-Darwinian atheists,

Newman believed nature gave humans an awareness of God &
morality but nurture is capable of destroying this.

The conscience is the moral aspect of a humans relationship with God, it

guides us and keeps us from evil; it is loving and nurturing.
Conscience influences the beliefs of the church and relationship between
Christian and the church. These beliefs are moderated by the conscience.
I toast the pope, but I toast my conscience first-Newman
Newmans view is agent centered and humans develop judgement through
examining their conscience, the understanding of morality comes from
examining the conscience and becoming a better judge of what is good.
Reflection improves individuals- it draws them closer to the understanding
of God not as an academic exercise. Conscience, aided by faith, leads us
to knowledge of God.
CRITICISMS:
What happens if the conscience tells one to go against a moral
absolute (such as use contraception)?
To what extent does the conscience need informing?
Is it possible to say that reflection on the conscience leads to moral
development & improvement?
Is it possible to misguide ones conscience for selfish gain?
Should the conscience supersede the church or is that dangerous?
WHO THINKS WHAT
Augustine- Conscience is the voice of God
Aquinas- Conscience is God given reason
Butler- Self worth- Faculty of reflection
Newman- Start with worth but gets weakened by environments (innate
sense of right & wrong)