Conscience is defined as having two
interrelated parts: (1) a commitment to
morality itself; to acting and choosing
morally according to the best of one’s
ability, and (2) the activity of judging that an
act one has done or about which one is
deliberating would violate that commitment.
In continuation of the Formation of
Conscience……
Certain Conscience
Certain Conscience refer to the
judgement about the goodness or evilness of
a particular action, which is made without
the fear of making a mistake.
When the intellect judges with certitude on
the morality of a specific action, the
judgement should always be followed.
Hence, the traditional principle that certain
conscience must always be followed. This is
a direct consequence of the first moral
principle (that one must do good and avoid
evil) and is likewise self-evident.
Remember, only certain conscience is a right
rule for action. But it need not be based on
absolute certitude, which is seldom found in
human actions. Certitude in a board sense is
enough. This means that the judgement is
based on a serious reasons, although there is
still the possibility of being wrong. Besides
being certain, conscience must be right or at
least invisibly erroneous in order to be a rule
of morality.
Saint Thomas clarifies that it is a rule either
only in a relative way (Secundum quid),
since it only binds for a long error lasts, or
in an accidental manner (per accident), since
it does not bind because of its being wrong.,
but because man considers it as true.
Sins committed with a conscience that is
both certain and erroneous are merely
material sins. This would be the case if a
person does something wrong but is
convinced that it is right. There is no formal
sin here since there is no voluntary
separation from God.
In other out-of-the-book definition, Certain
Conscience is the judgement without the fear
of being wrong about the virtue of
Immorality of the activity done by a person.
Doubtful Conscience
doubtful Conscience is the
suspension of judgement on the moral
goodness or evilness of an action because the
intellect cannot see clearly whether it is good
nor bad. A doubtful conscience cannot be
followed if it entails the possibility of doing
something bad; the doubtful must be
resolved first. If one doubt whether or not
there is an obligation to do something good
(like going to mass), it can always be done
without need to resolve the doubt; there is no
risk of sinning in doing it.
Doubt may refer:
 to the law itself and its content (like
a referee who doubts the
interpretation of some obscure rules
of the game); and
 to the action (like the referee who
doubts whether or not a player
actually pushed another player).
In either case, if there is reasonable
ground for doubt, one may not act until it is
solved.
Principles in Resolving a Doubtful
Conscience
We must always strive to form a
certain conscience before acting. This may
be done in a variety of ways so that a
practical certainty can be reached, and thus
establish sufficient basis for acting in a
morally correct way.
We must try to find a direct solution of the
doubt. This can be done by applying general
principles to the particular case, by
consultation with experts, or by referring to
other well-informed sources.
We can also try indirect solution of
the doubt by resorting to what are commonly
called reflex principles, as expressed in
certain rules of prudence and various
presumptions. Thus we can establish a
sufficient basis for then act with clear
conscience.

The most important reflex principles are:
 a doubtful law does not bind;
 in case of doubt, the professor has a
better right;
 A person is presumed innocent until
proven guilty;
 in case of doubt, one has to judge
according to what ordinarily
happens;
 an act is to to presumed valid until
proven otherwise; and
 In case of doubt, what is odious
should be restricted and what is
favorable should be expanded.
In in case of doubt, one has to follow
the safest solution.
The intellect could get used to issuing
defective, biased judgments on the goodness
or evilness of actions. We can distinguish
two types of biased conscience as follows:
1. Scrupulous conscience which is the
intellect with a tendency to scruples. It
decides that an action is sinful based on
weak or insufficient reasons. The
symptoms of a scrupulous are:
 Excessive anxiety over the
sufficiency of good actions and,
especially, over the validity of past
confessions;
 Fastidious accusations, scrutinizing,
and unnecessary circumstances,
especially as regards to internal sins
(thoughts, desires); and
 Obstinacy in one’s opinion, which
leads one to mistrust one’s
confessors and go from one
confessor to another.
The causes of scrupulous conscience are
natural, be it physical (sickness) or moral
(self-centeredness, dealing with excessively
strict persons, or even hidden pride).
the remedies of scrupulous
conscience are:
 Removal of its causes;
 Strict obedience to one’s
confessor;
 Orderly work and suitable
recreation;
 Prayer, which increases light;
and
 Trust in God who is Our Father.
2. Lax Conscience is also the intellect
with a tendency to laxity. It judges
without sufficient reason that are certain
action is not sinful or is only slightly
sinful.
If laxity becomes excessive because
of repeated sins, we can speak of a hardened
conscience. This does not mean that the
intellect is no longer able to distinguish
between good and evil. Properly speaking,
subjective amorality cannot really exist.
The so-called pharisaic conscience is
characterized by great punctiliousness (stiff
correctness) in some things, especially
external and often unimportant ones, together
with great laxity in matters of far greater
importance.
The usual causes of a lax conscience
are:
 poor moral education;
 dealing with depraved people;
 strong disorderly passions; and
 living for a life time immersed in
vices.
The effects of a lax conscience are
especially harmful. When the awareness of
doing something wrong is lost the possibility
of reacting and repenting is slim.
The remedies of a lax conscience are:
 removing its causes
 frequent sacramental confession;
and
 asking light from God through
prayer.