Conscience

• conscience


  conscience, innermost thoughts, desires, intentions; feelings
• conscientia


  a joint knowledge of something, a knowing of a thing together with another person; consciousness, knowledge; particularly, knowledge within oneself, sense of right and wrong, a moral sense
• Conscire


  be (mutually) aware; be conscious of wrong; to know well
• Akrasia


  Greek word that means lack of self control
• Conscience


  a judgment of reason by which the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act
• 1. Lax conscience – conscience is loose. It sees lawful an act which is sinful, or venial sin which is actually grave sin.
• 1. Scrupulous conscience – conscience is tight. There is a constant dread of sin where there is none or of grave sin where there is only venial.
  2. Perplexed conscience – confronted with two alternative rules of action, it fears sin in whatever choice it makes.
  3. Rationalizing conscience – conscience always finds excuses for any action
  4. Legalistic conscience – the most important thing is to have done what is required by rule without concern for care and compassion.
• HUMAN ACTS

  Human Acts – are acts that are freely chosen following a judgment of conscience. They are deliberate acts proceeding from the intellect and the will of the person.
• 1. Object :

  • Example: to hate one’s mistakes or one’s parents; to kill an animal or business rival; t spend money which is one’s own or somebody else’s.
• Intention

  • Example: to give alms in order to help or to boast; to punish in order to correct or to give way to anger; to dress up in order to please or seduce.
• 1. Circumstances

  • Ex: stealing from another’s hard work; sleeping during travel time by the passengers or the pilot of the plane.
• PRINCIPLES OF DOUBLE EFFECT

  The act in itself should be good, or at least morally neutral. The good effect must not come from the evil effect.

  The evil effect should not be directly intended but allowed to happen only as a regrettable side effect. The good effect must outweigh the evil effect in its importance.
• 2 ELEMENTS THAT CONSTITUTE HUMAN ACT : Knowledge, Freedom , Voluntariness
• 1. THREE ELEMENTS THAT CONSTITUTE HUMAN ACT Knowledge –consciousness of the conditions and implications of our actions.
• THREE ELEMENTS THAT CONSTITUTE HUMAN ACT  Freedom – the power rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility” CCC1731.
• THREE ELEMENTS THAT CONSTITUTE HUMAN ACT 

  Voluntariness – the quality of human acts whereby any action committed or omitted results from willing consent within the person.
• 3 KINDS OF VOLUNTARINESS:

  1. Perfect voluntariness – fully aware and intentional of the act 
  2. Conditional voluntariness – we don’t fully intend to do such an act because of circumstances. 
  3. Simple voluntariness – do an act willfully regardless whether we like it or not.
• Q: Is someone who in good conscience acts

  wrongly guilty in God's sight?

  A: No. If a person has thoroughly examined himself and arrived at a certain judgment, he must in any case follow his inner voice, even at the risk of doing

  something wrong.
• 1. ROne may never do evil so that good may result from it.
  2. The Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
• ERRONEOUS JUDGMENT A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were to deliberately act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already committed.
• TWO KINDS OF ERRONEOUS JUDGMENT:

  • Invincible – totally not knowledgeable about the wrongfulness of an act.
  • Vicible – might have known but failed to know. “Ignorance of the law excuses no one.”
• THE FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE

  • A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. (CCC1783)
  • The education of the conscience is a lifelong task.
  • Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults.
• • Synderesis, “is a term used by the Scholastic theologians to signify the habitual knowledge of the universal practical principles of moral action.”(Newadvent)
  • The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.
• TWO CHALLENGES

  1. Indifference- Conscience requires us to be attentive. We must listen to God, who speaks to us. Having a well-formed conscience doesn't mean we have all the answers to the complex problems in the world, but it does mean that we are sensitive to the needs and struggles of other people.

  2. Coercion-We can see how unjust these types of actions are that insist that popular opinion, rather than conscience, should be our primary guide for action.
• HOW TO FORM OUR CONSCIENCES 1.Pray- In drawing closer to the Lord, we allow God's grace to conform our minds and hearts to Christ, so that we might better discern in every moment how we ought to act.

  2. Learn- Without a foundational, practical formation, it is difficult for our consciences to guide us well in concrete situations.
• HOW TO FORM OUR CONSCIENCES 3. ReflectWe are formed by the stories we hear and tell. Immersing ourselves in the stories of holy women and men can encourage us and help us develop habits of mind that allow us to grow. Stories help us hone our instincts.

  4. Nurture friendships-  A life of following Jesus is exceedingly difficult without help from a community