Summary
Summary - Conscience, OCR, a level religious studies
- Course
- Institution
OCR, Religious Studies reformed A level, CONSCIENCE unit revision cards, authored by an A student
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
zoealderson
Content preview
CONSCIENCE OVERVIEW• Something everyone has- shared by the human race
• Each time you ask for something you are appealing to their conscious, the faculty of the mind that disting
between right and wrong
• It is even possible to manipulate someone’s conscious, instilling feelings of guilt in order to make them ac
that your conscious wants them to
• This is only one view of the conscience
• Paul’s letters to the Corinthians- conscience is an awareness of good and bad that can be mistaken- this
shared by many Christians- the idea our conscience helps us make moral decisions
• Conscience today is a term that is used in a variety of ways: conscientious objectors, telling people to fo
conscience, to feeling guilt when we feel as if we have made the wrong decision
, AQUINAS- CONSCIENCE IS GOD GIVEN
• Not an internal sense of right and wrong but a faculty for distinguishing between right and wrong actions
• But his synderesis rule teaches that people have a natural tendency to lean towards good and away from evil
• The main problem for humans was distinguishing between what is good and what is evil
• Two parts for moral decisions 1. synderesis- right reason and the awareness of the moral principle to do good and avoid evil 2. conscienti
decision a person makes based on their moral principles
• For him conscience was not only being able to distinguish between right and wrong but also to make complex moral decisions in the face o
dilemmas
• Claimed people committed evil actions due to following an apparent rather than a real good- conscience had been mistaken- something t
develop imago dei- may lead to pleasure but ultimately fall short of our potential
• The answer to this was to develop our ability to reason- done through learning the 4 cardinal virtues (temperance, fortitude, prudence, jus
virtues (faith, hope, love) and staying away from the 7 capital vices (sloth, greed, wrath, gluttony, envy, lust, pride) by considering these in
we can distinguish whether actions are right or wrong- synderesis aspect of conscience
• It is right to apply your moral principles to a situation as accurately as you can but if your principles are wrong your conscience will also b
• Vincible ignorance- lack of knowledge for which a person is responsible
• Invinciple ignorance- lack of knowledge for which a person is not responsible
• All people ought to know divine law and what is right and wrong- when we choose to do wrong, we are being ignorant to divine law- but
can misjudge a situation leading to apparent rather than real goods- the example of a man accidently sleeping with someone who is not
• Right conscience was ‘reason making right decisions’
• Once we have synderesis then we are able to use our conscience to distinguish accurately between right and wrong
• Unlike other Christian philosophers he did not believe that our conscience was God talking to us- instead he believes that it is the ability to
choose right and wrong and is given to us by God- he is more rationalistic
, JOSEPH BUTLER- CONSCIENCE AS INTUITIVE AND THE VOI
• Conscience was the final moral decision maker OF GOD
• Conscience gives us instant judgements about what we should do, he willed it to run the world but conscience lacks strength to do
• Conscience is given to us by God- ‘our natural guide, the guide assigned to us by the author of our nature’- because of this it mus
is our duty to walk in that path’
• The fact that our conscious wills us to do something is justification for acting in that way
• Humans are influenced by 2 key factors- self-love and benevolence- our conscience should lead us away from self-love and towa
the needs of others
• People can put their conscious aside and that conscience can be corrupted by self-deception- this is worse than any evil that could
a result of this
• Conscience tends to be intuitive and right, wicked actions occur when we cast it aside
• But people could use this to justify all sorts of things- such as murder
• Bowie- because of this Catholics have tended towards Aquinas’s view, which gives weight to conscience but allows a margin of err
doesn’t believe this
• The Yorkshire Ripper example- Peter Sutcliffe- God ordered him to kill prostitutes- many people would view this as insanity and n
God- if this was the case he would have been given a reduced sentence
• What about divine command theory- if murder is wrong because God commands it, then would that make it right if God comman
Ayer then asserted that no morality can be founded on authority, even if that authority was divine
• What if your conscience goes against the teachings of the church?- Bowie claims many catholic partners use artificial contraceptiv
• What about conflicting consciences?- especially in the context of other religions, atheists accept the idea of a conscious but rejec
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller zoealderson. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.78. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
62890 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now