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Summary Conscience
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summary and essay plans of the conscience
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ConscienceComparison between Aquinas and Freud:
On the concept of guilt
Aquinas - Guilt is merely a byproduct of going against what our Conscientia
has worked out. And succumbing to ignorance and going against synderesis.
The result of being irrational is the feeling of guilt!
Guilt is a part of the Catholic understanding of conscience for a different
reason. John Henry Newman argued that feeling guilt implies a responsibility
to a standard, and therefore a being who has set ourselves a standard. This
responsibility, I believe, is the standard of Synderesis and the being who has
set it must be God. Therefore, guilt leads to God.
Guilt is the gnawing sense that an action is not good, it is not in accordance
with divine law. Synderesis indicates that things are not right, and guilt is the
result. Guilt helps God to restore a proper relationship with a person. The
consequences of sin are damaging because they disrupt a person’s
relationship with God. God’s grace that expels guilt from a person. When a
person makes a moral mistake through no fault of their own, and it is not
blameworthy, then they should not feel guilty
Freud - Guilt occurs whenever we ignore our superego. This could be
because of a conscious choice of our Ego, or from the influence of our natural
Id. We feel guilt, as we are going against the authority we are unconsciously
aware of in our Superego. Guilt is crucial to our conscience. Means that the
feeling of a conscience that we have in our experience comes from guilt.
Guilt is illogical when analysed - Agree with Aquinas its cause by going
against our moral standard but not irrational. caused when but when we are
trying to live up to the ideal reality of our superego. E.g parents giving us
impossible ideals we fall short leading to feelings of guilt. It is illogical when we
analyse it and not result of something innate like synderesis
Guilt is a result of internal conflict in the mind; the struggle between what you
desire and what you feel you should or should not do. For Freud the inner
turmoil of guilt can cause a person to do bad things. It is not, therefore, a
consequence of wrongdoing, but a cause of future wrongdoing.
, On the presence or absence of God within the workings of the
conscience and super-ego
Aquinas:
Conscience is a tool from God to work out right and wrong - Freud is right that
some religious thinkers see conscience as the voice of God. But Aquinas
believes that conscience is a tool that God has given us to help us work out
what is right and wrong. Therefore, while God has given us a tool it is up to
humans to use the tool correctly which some will do and some will not. Innate
sense of right and wrong.
Can prove God via 5 ways - Freud is confusing two arguments here. Frued
assumes that his psychological analysis on the effect a belief in God has on
some individuals, leads to God being also a psychological phenomenon. But
there are various ways we can prove the existence of God outside of
psychology, including through the Five Ways I proved them such as the
Cosmological and Teleological argument. Therefore, limiting God to a creation
of our consciousness for comfort goes against our reason.
For Aquinas, knowledge in this world leads the human beings to a higher
knowledge, to the divine goodness of God’s law. God has created human
beings with ration and synderesis. Conscientia is explained by this connection
with God and God’s law. Innate sense of divine and laws - we have Bible and
empiricism to show for God and his presence in our conscience. (counter to
last point on freud so if this come up write it like that)
Freud:
The problem with religious views of the conscience is that you are left with an
absurd view that God has told different people different things about what is
right and wrong! Just look at the argument between the correct ethical
religious teaching on ethical topics such as sex! If God has preset our
conscience then surely we would all share the same ethical thinking.
Argues that God did not create us, but we created God. Ludwig Feuerback
was correct in suggesting that we take human characteristics and stretch them
creating this idea of God. As he said, ‘God is man written in large letters’. God
is merely a comfort blanket to meet our deepest psychological needs. Though
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