conscience - a moral sense/ inner feeling of right and wrong felt by a person which affects behaviour
synderesis rule - do good and avoid evil - Aquinas
all rules must follow this rule
conscientia - process whereby people make their moral decisions - Aquinas
ratio - reason which is God-given within every person because we are created in the image of God
Origins of conscience
Augustine: conscience was literally the voice of God - tells us right and wrong; we receive this message intuitively.
all goodness comes from God and God knows our actions and the choices behind those actions directly
hiding one’s actions and being unwilling to confess them to God would lead to a distance between God and man
conscience comes from the outpouring of God's divine love
God speaks to individuals in solitary moments
conscience is a tool to help us understand God
Fletcher: conscience is a verb not a noun - process when we make moral decisions
Origins of conscience
Cardinal Newman: conscience is a voice from God - tells us what to do
Unlike Augustine, Newman took a less literal approach, considering conscience to be a messenger from God, rather than God literally speaking to us.
conscience is a truth detector rather than a truth inventor; but like Augustine, he takes an intuitivist approach to conscience. Where humans differ from animals is our capacity to reflect on our actions
Origins of conscience
Butler: conscience is a process of intuitive judgement against conflicting desires, rather than a rational reflection
distinct from a direct instruction from God, as we make our own judgement
Conscience does not require us to consult it as it “magisterially exerts itself”- has the final say in moral decisions. The conscience is what distinguishes us from animals and makes us distinctly human in Butler’s thinking. This position is seen often in the media where those who ignore their consciences, such as orchestrators of genocides, are described as being less than human
