Conscience - Celebrity Encyclopedia

Conscience ability or faculty that distinguishes whether one's actions are right or wrong. In plain English, it is a person's inner sense of what is right or what is wrong morally. It leads to feelings of remorse when one does things that go against his/her moral values, and to feelings of rectitude or integrity when one's actions conform to our moral values. It is also the attitude which informs one's moral judgment before performing any action. The extent to which such moral judgments are based in reason has been a matter of controversy almost throughout the history of Western philosophy.

Charmbury: Conscience, Inner Guide To Truth And Right

Conscience:
Conscience is an effortless, immediate, unreasoned (not thought about) inner sense of truth about right and wrong that comes from a universal source that is aware of all things, in the past, present and future. Conscience is an inner source of moral knowledge about the truth of right and wrong that can be accessed by the mind asking itself moral questions; the conscience can be accessed by the reasoning part of the mind through moral questions posed to it; the product of the conscience-s moral process it to produce moral feelings in the gut that make a person feel right or wrong about things. Moral feelings can be our inner feelings that can guide us to do what is right as determined by conscience; if we ask our conscience for guidance it will guide us; if we ask God to verify our conscience he will. Ignorance of conscience is ignorance of truth and right that is readily available to all, who know how and what to ask.

Conscience and Decision Making:
To use conscience people must first make a preliminary moral decision; then and only then can you ask your own conscience if you made the right decision; your conscience then sends moral feelings to your gut. If you get a gut feeling, then you must be morally aware of something and have made a preliminary decision about some situation, even if that process only took a second or two. The wise person incorporates conscience into all important decisions; conscience is the key to doing right; doing right is the key to righteousness. You decide what you want; your conscience then tells you what is right for you; it-s always your choice to follow your conscience, but your actions determine the outcome and its consequences.

Gut Feeling From Conscience:
Gut feeling is a moral feeling about something that people feel in their gut when in their minds they have intentionally or unintentionally referred it to their conscience for moral evaluation and processing. Gut feelings can be of two states either right or wrong; the intensity of gut feelings can vary according to the urgency and importance of the moral situation under question and the necessity of taking appropriate action in response. Following ones gut feelings has a history and tendency to produce far better results than ignoring them; ignoring gut feelings can be hazardous to your health and happiness.

Moral Verification of Conscience:
Moral verification of conscience is accomplished by the following process:
1. Think about something in your mind
2. Make a preliminary decision about it
3. Ask your conscience a moral question about it
4. Receive a moral feeling in your gut about it

Verify conscience by asking God if same thing is right
1. God knows right from wrong
2. God always tells the truth about right and wrong
3. Ask God if same thing is right
__ a. If it is right, then God will cause your heart to spiritually burn within and your mind and memory to remain clear
__ b. If it is wrong, then God will cause your mind to cloud over and your memory to forget the thing that is wrong; your heart will not spiritually burn within.

Conscience Verifies Conscience:
One person-s conscience can verify another person-s conscience; two peoples- consciences can verify the conscience of a third individual; this validation process is without limits. God-s conscience can also verify your conscience if you ask him if you made the right moral choice. A leader may make a decision based upon his conscience; if this is the right choice, then any and all followers should be able to ask their own consciences if the leader did indeed make the right choice; if he did then all followers asking the same question about the same matter should get the same answer; this is moral science in which all are accessing the same moral universal source of moral knowledge.

What should I do if I want to do the right thing-

Law of Moral Witnesses
One person may act on their conscience if circumstances dictate, but it is preferable to have a second person verify through their conscience that the actions of the first individual are indeed correct; for further verification the testimony of a third person is the more sure way of morality. The powerful testimony of others as to the source of your inner direction coming from the universal source of all moral knowledge and from God is reassurance that you are a trustworthy person using reliable sources for guidance in your actions.

Key To Heaven
Some people find it hard to trust in their own inner selves; if others confirm their own inner conscience, then they may risk believing in themselves. If God confirms their own conscience, then they may begin to really believe that they are indeed the spirit offspring of God and share in his divine nature. But it is our own option to choose between good and evil; it is our choice to choose between being god like or devil like. Our conscience is the key; with our conscience we can climb up into heaven; without it we can fall into ignorance, fear and become the servants of the devil believing that hell is our heaven. Ignorance and fear make us our own worst enemies; fear of ignorance made Satan blind to truth and right; Satan did not trust himself to handle ignorance; Satan taught others to fear ignorance and fight against God. What great ignorance did he fear, why it was the ignorance of birth- What did he not trust himself to do; why it was to give up the search for truth and right before finding his conscience again- Only the brave are born; only the inspired and valiant will keep searching for their conscience; conscience is your key to heaven and it is always within you hidden in plain sight.

Conscience References From LDS Scriptures

D&C 134: 2, 4-5
_2 We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.
- - -
_4 We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.
_5 We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly; and that all governments have a right to enact such laws as in their own judgments are best calculated to secure the public interest; at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience.
1 Tim. 1: 5, 19
_5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
- - -
_19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
1 Pet. 3: 16, 21
_16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
- - -
_21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Mosiah 2: 15, 27
_15 Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day.
- - -
_27 Therefore, as I said unto you that I had served you, walking with a clear conscience before God, even so I at this time have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together, that I might be found blameless, and that your blood should not come upon me, when I shall stand to be judged of God of the things whereof he hath commanded me concerning you.
John 8: 9
_9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
Acts 24: 16
_16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
Rom. 2: 15
_15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Rom. 9: 1
_1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2 Cor. 1: 12
_12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
2 Cor. 4: 2
_2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man-s conscience in the sight of God.
1 Tim. 4: 2
_2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Titus 1: 15
_15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Heb. 13: 18
_18 Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.
Alma 29: 5
_5 Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.
A of F 1: 11
_11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

Conscience References from Web

WordNet
- Conscience is defined as -motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions- Moral motivation from moral principles
- Conscience is defined as -conformity to one's own sense of right conduct- Inner moral sense.
- Conscience is defined as -a feeling of shame when you do something immoral- Shame is a moral feeling from immoral action => from moral source.
Wiktionary
- Conscience is defined as -The moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects one's own behaviour.-
Business-words
- Conscience is defined as -inner sense of right and wrong, as in: Wouldn't it bother your conscience to lie to your friends-- Inner moral sense => conscience => right => wrong => moral feelings => Gut feelings of right and wrong.
Clarification of Term, used in Values Discussions
A Paper by Professor David Aspin [www.becal.net]
- David Aspin states -Conscience is sometimes taken to be the name of some inner disposition, sense or organ in human beings; it is often associated with the idea of the -moral faculty-, which some people believe all humans have. We do not know whether there is any such thing, however: it is more likely that when we speak of „conscience“, all that is implied is a strong internal awareness of thoughts or actions that we ought, or ought not, to be having or doing.- Conscience is a moral faculty that is associated with the brain and gut; the brain initiates moral questions; the conscience connects with the universe; direction is felt in moral feelings felt in the gut.
- Phrases involving conscience -Reference to conscience is a -facon de parler-: phrases involving the word can be interpreted along such lines as the following: -to have a conscience- is to be sensitive to moral considerations, -to have no conscience -is not to be sensitive to them; -to consult one-s conscience- is to exercise one-s moral judgment, and so on.-
Bible Dictionary [GodOnThe.Net/dictionary]
- Conscience is defined as -Knowledge of your own acts as right or wrong.- Moral knowledge of self
Saivite Virtue [abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism]
- -Adharma: That which is "not dharma"-- thoughts, words and deeds which transgress God's divine laws and the natural conscience of the soul. Adharma creates negative karma and keeps the individual ego-centered, in a low instinctive/intellectual mind state.- Is a Buddhist concept associated with conscience.
- -Conscience: The inherent knowledge or sense of right and wrong. Our conscience is the innate wisdom of our soul, along with all we have learned from our past lives.- Is the Buddhist definition of conscience.
Free-Bible-Dictionary [kingjamesbibleonline.org]
- Conscience is defined as "That faculty of the mind, or inborn sense of right and wrong, by which we judge of the moral character of human conduct. It is common to all men.- Conscience is a faculty of the mind and an inner moral sense.
Answers.com
- Conscience is -The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong.- Moral awareness of right => ethics => moral preference => morally right actions
- Conscience is -A source of moral or ethical judgment or pronouncement.- Moral source
- Conscience is -Conformity to one's own sense of right conduct.- Moral sense
- Conscience is -The part of the superego in psychoanalysis that judges the ethical nature of one's actions and thoughts and then transmits such determinations to the ego for consideration.- Ethical judge
Selfknowledge.com
- -[F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]- is definition of the derivation of the word conscience
- -Knowledge of one's own moral thoughts or ethical actions; consciousness. Denham.- Indicates self-knowledge of moral thoughts of ethical actions.
- -The faculty, power, or inward principle which decides as to the character of one's own actions, purposes, and affections, warning against and condemning that which is wrong, and approving and prompting to that which is right; the moral faculty passing judgment on one's self; the moral sense.- Moral faculty produces moral power through application of moral principles. Conscience is a moral faculty used to pass moral judgement on one-s moral self.
- "As science means knowledge, conscience etymologically means self-knowledge . . . But the English word implies a moral standard of action in the mind as well as a consciousness of our own actions. . . . Conscience is the reason, employed about questions of right and wrong, and accompanied with the sentiments of approbation and condemnation. Whewell.- Conscience means self-moral-knowledge; conscience is an inner moral standard of action, moral actions from the past, present and the future.
- -The estimate or determination of conscience; conviction or right or duty.- Gives us moral conviction and moral duty; moral rights are determined by our conscience.
- "Conscience supposes the existence of some such [i.e., moral] faculty, and properly signifies our consciousness of having acted agreeably or contrary to its directions. Adam Smith.- Moral existence => Conscience existence. We know if we have acted according to our conscience or gone against it.
WikiAnswers.com
- -Conscience is we should hope all of us have. It means when we are doing someting wrong like hurting someone's feelings; cheating, lying, stealing, etc., we know in our inner self it's wrong and sometimes if one is lucky enough the conscience will get the better of them and they will listen to their inner self and know what is right. Conscience divides the good from the evil of life.- Doing wrong => Bad conscience => Know evil. Conscience means the existence of choice; the choice is the choice between good and evil; doing right requires a conscience to know right; doing wrong requires a conscience to know wrong.
SAmemory.sa.gov.au
- -Conscience means the knowledge of our own acts and feelings as right or wrong, sense of duty, scrupulousness, understanding the faculty or principle by which we distinguish right or wrong. Conscience also means to speak one-s mind upon any subject, and to allow my conscience to become my judge.- Conscience => moral knowledge => moral action => moral judge.
Pope John Paul II [stmarynativity.com]
- Pope John Paul II said -Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a person, where we are alone with God. In the depths of our conscience, we detect a moral law, which does not impose itself on us, but which holds us to a higher obedience. This law is not an external human law, but the voice of God, calling us to free ourselves from the grip of evil desires and sin, and stimulating us to seek what is good and true in life.-
- Conscience is a mental unseen part of the mind and is at our core; God and conscience are connected; God and his leaders want us to have a good conscience. Conscience helps form our moral laws; moral laws are linked to God-s laws; God-s conscience is the foundation of all his moral laws given to mankind to teach all to do right. Like a parent teaching his young child to first ride a bike; we are the child; God is the parent; the bicycle is our conscience; God-s laws are there to show us how until we can ride the bike on our own.
Bishop Peter Sartain [paxjoliet.org]
- Conscience is a moral tool that a moral craftsman must educate himself to use in developing his own moral handbook and guide; the brain can ask the questions and then organize and analyze the results felt by the gut. Morality is a social educational developmental process that begins at birth and ends at death. Conscience connects us to God and to the universe; God has developed the perfect good conscience; as a parent he can teach us to use it just like he does.
- Bishop Peter Sartain said -A well-formed conscience is a wise guide: Conscience enables us to recognize the morality of something we are about to do, are in the process of doing, or have already done. It helps us take responsibility for our actions, prompts us to ask forgiveness when we fail, and produces peaceful hearts. A well-formed conscience is a messenger of God, who teaches us how to do good and avoid evil.- I like what he had to say; we can learn a lot from him; we can fill in the gaps and march ahead to even greater understanding.
- Bishop Peter Sartain said -The formation of a good conscience is a lifelong process, and it begins with the loving guidance of parents. As we grow older and find ourselves free of parental control, we must take responsibility for the education of our consciences. That entails serious interior reflection, something not always valued in our era of quick fixes and instant gratification. Forming a good conscience requires that we slow down, reflect, pray, and learn.- Moral parents can teach us to use our conscience like a little child until we gain enough understanding and skill of our own to use it independently. This is all part of the natural social parental childhood development process of morality.
- Bishop Peter Sartain said -How do we properly educate and form our consciences- By studying the Word of God, praying for God-s wisdom, relying on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, following good example, seeking sound advice from others, and allowing ourselves to be guided by the teaching of the Church. The formation of a good conscience requires humility. I must admit that there is such a thing as moral truth which, though it may not be easy and may go against popular trends, is given to us by God for our good and must be obeyed. Moreover, since this moral truth comes from God, it is meant for all humanity, not just for believers.- Religion was instituted of God that mankind in its state of moral ignorance and conscience ignorance might learn the lessons of morality through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Church of Jesus Christ from the days of Adam.
- From the beginning the Church and Gospel were given to Adam and Eve; since then people have perverted and destroyed the true church and gospel many times leaving the earth in utter spiritual darkness; from time to time when mankind was ready to receive the truth again God has brought back his true church and true gospel again and again.
Infoplease [dictionary.infoplease.com]
- Conscience is -The inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action: to follow the dictates of conscience.- Inner sense implies inner faculty, which implies inner moral organ, which implies inner conscience. Right conscience => right action.
- Conscience is -The complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual.- The conscience defines moral principles, which are processed in the moral part of the brain, that are then stored in the moral part of the memory for retrieval.
- Conscience is -An inhibiting sense of what is prudent: I'd eat another piece of pie but my conscience would bother me.- Good conscience => inhibits bad conscience => inhibits imprudent thoughts => inhibits imprudent actions.
- „Conscientiousness.“ Moral conscientiousness in using conscience to do right is a better way of looking at it.
- -Obs.consciousness; self-knowledge.- Self-knowledge => Self-moral-knowledge => knowledge about right from conscience.
- -Have something on one's conscience, to feel guilty about something, as an act that one considers wrong: She behaves as if she had something on her conscience.- I can say no more; she sounds guilty to me.
- -in all conscience,- In all conscience => in all good conscience
- -In all reason and fairness.- => In all good reason and fairness of conscience

Good Conscience: Listen to gut feelings and follow ones own conscience
Bad Conscience: Do not listen to gut feelings and do not follow ones own conscience
Ignored Conscience: Ignore gut feelings; ignore conscience

Verify Right Through Conscience
If someone [a leader, a follower, a dissenter, an independent]
Feels inspired by God [inspired thoughts that come to mind]
Feels guided by scriptures [reads Bible, Koran, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, etc... ]
Feels guided by prayer [has personal answer to prayer]
Feels guided by gut [asked conscience moral question]
Then two or more other people can confirm any guidance by
Each independently asking their own consciences if this is the right thing [ to do, to say, to believe]
Each independently ask God if this is the right thing [to do, to say, to believe]
Act only on confirmed conscience guided decisions
Right is confirmed by conscience and by God and by others.

Differing Views of Conscience and religion

Views of conscience are not mutually exclusive. Although there is no generally accepted definition of what conscience is or what its role in ethical decision-making is, there are three main factors that determine which stance is adopted.

Religious views of conscience

According to some religious perspectives, your conscience is what bothers you when you do evil to your neighbour, or which informs you of the rightness or wrongness of an action before committing it. Doing good to your neighbor does not arouse the voice of conscience, but wickedness inflicted upon the innocent is sure to make the conscience scream. This is because in these world views, God has commanded all men to "love their neighbor". Insofar as a man fails to do this, he breaks God's law and thus his conscience bothers him until he confesses his sin to God and repents of that sin, clearing his conscience. If one persists in an evil way of life for a long period of time, it is referred to as having one's conscience seared with a hot iron. Many people believe that the conscience is the Holy Spirit.

Many churches consider following one's conscience to be as important as, or even more important than, obeying human authority. This can sometimes lead to moral quandaries: "Do I obey my church/military/political leader, or do I follow my own sense of right and wrong-" Most churches and religious groups hold the moral teachings of their sacred texts as the highest authority in any situation. This dilemma is akin to Antigone's defiance of King Creon's order, appealing to the "unwritten law" and to a "longer allegiance to the dead than to the living"; it can also be compared to the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, in which he claimed that he had followed Kantian philosophy by simply "doing his job" instead of entering a state of civil disobedience ^[1].

In popular culture, the conscience is often illustrated as an angel standing on a person's right shoulder, the good side; on the left shoulder stands a devil. These entities will then 'speak out' to you and try to influence you to make a good choice or bad choice depending on the situation.

Biblical references often cited regarding conscience

Conscience in Catholic theology

Conscience, in Catholic theology, is "a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1778). Catholics are called to examine their conscience daily, and with special care before confession.

In current Catholic teaching, "Man has the right to act according to his conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters" (ibid., paragraph 1782). In certain situations involving individual personal decisions that are incompatible with church law, some pastors rely on the use of the internal forum solution. However, the Catholic Church has warned that "rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching...can be at the source of errors in judgment in moral conduct" (ibid., paragraph 1792)

Secular views of conscience

Psycho-Analytical views

The psychologist Sigmund Freud regarded conscience as originating in the superego, which takes its cue from one's parents during childhood. According to Freud, the consequence of not obeying our conscience is "guilt," which can be a factor in the development of neurosis. One's conscience is a societal construction which keeps one operating under the social ideology through the negative-feedback system of guilt.

Bio-Psychological views

Conscience can prompt different people in quite different directions, depending on their beliefs, suggesting that while the capacity for conscience is probably genetically determined, its subject matter is probably learned, or imprinted, like language, as part of a culture. For instance, one person may feel a moral duty to go to war, while another feels a moral duty to avoid war under any circumstances.

Numerous case studies of brain damage have shown that damage to specific areas of the brain (e.g. the anterior prefrontal cortex) results in the reduction or elimination of inhibitions, with a corresponding radical change in behaviour patterns. When the damage occurs to adults, they may still be able to perform moral reasoning; but when it occurs to children, they may never develop that ability.^[2]

Conscience as society-forming instincts

The human animal has a set of instincts and drives which enable us to form societies: groups of humans without these drives, or in whom they are insufficiently strong, cannot form cohesive societies and do not reproduce their kind as successfully as those that do. They either cannot survive in nature, or are defeated in conflict with other, more cohesive groups.

Behavior destructive to a person's society (either to its structures, or to the persons it comprises) is bad or "evil." Evil or wrong acts provoke either fear or disgust/contempt. Thus, one who threatens people with a chainsaw and one whose sexual practices we ourselves find revolting might both be labeled "bad."

Conscience is what we call those drives that prompt us to avoid provoking fear or contempt in others. We experience the operation of conscience as guilt and shame. We feel guilt when we perceive that others might rightly fear us, and shame when we perceive that others might rightly find us disgusting or contemptible. To avoid these negative and unpleasant feelings, we modify our behavior: thus "conscience" prompts us to behave "rightly."^{[citation needed]}

Guilt and shame differ from society to society, and person to person. This both in the content of what acts might provoke these feelings, and the general degree of how strongly these feelings are felt. Indeed, an individual can feel guilt or shame retrospectively for past acts, as one's ideas about right behavior change. A person's circumstances will also alter their ideas of what is "bad." Persons in nations, religious groups, gangs, or other types of groups will - if their group and another are engaged in physical conflict - view members of the other group as "bad," and view members of that gang harming members of their own as wrong acts.

A requirement of conscience, then, is the capacity to see ourselves from the point of view of another person. Persons unable to do this (psychopaths, sociopaths, narcissists) therefore often act in ways which are "evil."

Another requirement is that we see ourselves and some "other" as being in a social relationship. Persons trying to resolve conflict between groups try (and sometimes succeed) to create a feeling that a social relationship exists, that the groups in conflict all belong to some larger encompassing group. Thus, nationalism is invoked to quell tribal conflict, and the notion of a Brotherhood of Man is invoked to quell national conflicts. There are even appeals to relationships between ourselves and the animals in society (pets, working animals, even animals grown for food), or between ourselves and nature as a whole. The goal is that once people perceive a social relationship, their conscience will begin to operate with respect to that former "other", and they will change their actions.

Conscience, then, and ideas of right and wrong, are a result of the kind of animals we are. We even see this in nonhuman animals ^[3]^[4]^[5].

Philosophical views of conscience

means knowledge, conscience etymologically means with-knowledge. But the English word implies a moral standard of action in the mind as well as a consciousness of our own actions. Conscience is the reason, employed about questions of right and wrong, and accompanied with the sentiments of approbation and condemnation. Any consideration of conscience must consider the estimate or determination of conscience and the resulting conviction or right or duty. For further and wider view of knowing the philosophical view of conscience one must know the prominent ethical philosophers particularly (Socrates,Plato and Aristotle)and 1. Aquinas 2. Kant 3. Confucius 4. Buddhism 5. and then also the entire school of thoughts of Philosophy that deals on Moral issue like the Utilitarian, Pragmaticism, etc.

Medieval and Early Modern Ideas of Conscience

The medieval scholastics made a distinction between conscience and a closely related concept called synderesis. However, there is evidence that this is an artificial distinction, and that the two terms originally meant the same thing.^{[citation needed]} Early modern theologians such as William Perkins and William Ames developed a syllogistic understanding of the conscience, where God's law made the first term, the act to be judged the second, and the action of the conscience (as a rational faculty) produced the judgement. This discursive conscience was trained using 'cases' of conscience (ie. casuistry), where test cases were posed and solved by ministers.^[6]

Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas claimed that conscience was -reason making right decisions-. He still argued that, if one is doing good, then it must come from God.

For Aquinas, our God-given reason, by synderesis, has an innate awareness of good and evil that cannot be mistaken - we all have this ability to distinguish from good and evil in the same quantity, and feel a moral obligation to avoid evil and pursue goodness. Aquinas also described synderesis as an awareness of the five primary precepts as proposed in his theory of Natural Law.

Aquinas referred to the conscience as the conscientia and defined it as the acting out of the information given by synderesis, or the process of judgment which acts upon synderesis - the "application of knowledge to activity."

Aquinas also discussed the virtue of prudence to explain why some people appear to be less 'morally enlightened' than others. Prudence is the most important of all virtues, as it helps us balance our own needs with those of others and to reason out the knowledge of synderesis. Our conscience may be mistaken if we haven't acquired enough of the virtue of prudence, which can lead to a breakdown of communication between synderesis and conscientia.

To clarify things, take the analogy of a locked safe. The safe itself is the moral knowledge of synderesis, the key to the safe of moral knowledge is the virtue of prudence, and the hands of practical application apply the key to unlock the safe is the conscientia.^{[citation needed]}

Aquinas reasoned that acting contrary to your conscience is an evil action, since although it may be mistaken at times it is our only guide. The 'erring conscience' as Aquinas termed it, explains the differences that may arise in different people's conscientia. You have an erring conscience if you are mistaken or confused about the moral course of action. The question could be raised however: is an erring conscience blameworthy- For Aquinas, an erring conscience is only blameworthy if it is the result of culpable or vincible ignorance of factors that are within one's duty to have knowledge of. If however, an erring conscience is the result of an invincible ignorance of factors that are beyond your control, your actions are not culpable. One must also be aware of Aquinas- distinction between real and apparent goods. Although real goods are from God, apparent goods (when we follow the wrong path believing it to be a real good) are not. An erring conscience may lead us down the path of an apparent good, which will not lead to human flourishing.

Aquinas reasoned that we should educate our consciences in order to act well and align our actions towards the highest good. Although conscience should be applied before an action, it may also retrospectively cause feelings of guilt or satisfaction.

Joseph Butler

Joseph Butler argued that conscience is God-given and should always be obeyed. Butler also said that it is intuitive, as we have the ability to perceive things beyond empirical evidence, and therefore it is considered the -constitutional monarch- and the -universal moral faculty-. It would appear that Butler is in striking accordance with Situation Ethics - Fletcher was also an Anglican Priest, which may have played some part in this. Butler refers to the use of -self-love- and -benevolence- in conscience, which can be attributed to the Agape of Situational ethics. As Situational ethics is teleological and assesses each scenario on an individual basis, it would stand to reason that it supports the use of conscience in every decision. However, as Vardy claims, there is no such thing as a conscience in Situational ethics - only the attempts of making appropriate decisions in situations. One could argue that these „attempts“ are in fact the conscience itself, and it therefore does support its use in decision-making.

Simon Soloveychik

According to Simon Soloveychik, the truth distributed in the world, as the statement about human dignity, as the affirmation of the line between good and evil, lives in people as conscience. Millions of people for thousands of years sought the truth and reached it, and so, gradually the common knowledge (science), the common message about the truth was defined - con-science. In many languages this word is constructed the same way as in Russian (message is -- and conscience is „---“). In German Wissen is knowledge, and Gewissen is conscience,

He stated that conscience is a common, one for all, knowledge about what good is and what evil is for humankind. Not for a man, not for his time, not for a group of men, but for humankind as a whole. As language, conscience is individual in each person and it is common for all.

He explained that the truth-conscience enters the man not with genes and not by upbringing: if conscience depended on upbringing then many people would not have known about it at all. It enters the man with a bearer of the common knowledge of good and evil, of the truth - with a common thing - human language. To his opinion, the answer about human conscience is as follows: a man obtains the moral law, which is conscience, through his native language. His consciousness, his self-consciousness, and his soul are forming during the obtaining of speech, his consciousness and his speech - are practically the same thing. In speech and in the language all major images of good and evil, the concept of the truth as well as a concept of the law is available; these concepts and images are becoming a child's own consciousness similar to language. Studying language, its lively phrases, its proverbs, perceiving the folklore, art and literature of his nation, a child is absorbing a common message of good and evil, - his conscience - and besides, he does not notice that, it seems to him that conscience occurred somehow by itself.

Soloveychik wrote, "A child sinking in a moral atmosphere of language and culture absorbs drops of the ocean of public consciousness. Genius people by their immense life work raises to such highs of the truth, that these great people are called the conscience of humankind. But both a two year old child, who feels something similar to a sense of guilt for the first time, and a well-known writer, who is called a guardian of human conscience, drink from the same source of common human knowledge of the truth." ^[7].

Conscientious acts

A conscientious objector is an individual whose personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, or sometimes with any role in the armed forces. The reasons for refusing to serve are varied. Many conscientious objectors are so for religious reasons-notably, members of the historic peace churches are pacifist by doctrine. Other objections can stem from a deep sense of responsibility toward humanity as a whole, or from simple denial that any government should have that kind of moral authority.

Law

In law, a conscience clause is a clause in a law that relieves an individual from complying with the law if it is incompatible with religious or conscientious beliefs.

World Conscience

World conscience is the idea that with global communication we as a people will no longer be estranged from one another, whether it be culturally, ethnically, or geographically. Instead, we will approach the world as a place in which we all live, and with newly gained understanding of each other we will begin to make decisions based on what is beneficial for all people.

Related to this idea is the idea of world consciousness. It too, looks at people in terms of the collective, but refers more to the universal ideas of the cosmos, instead of the interconnectedness of choice. In other words, conscience is 'inner voice'.

Contents

Charmbury: Conscience, Inner Guide To Truth And Right