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Conscience is an Ability or Faculty or Sense that leads to feelings of Remorse when we do things that go against our Moral Value s, or which informs our moral judgment before performing such an action. Such feelings are not intellectually reached, though they may cause us to 'examine our conscience' and review those moral precepts, or perhaps resolve to avoid repeating the behaviour. Commonly used metaphors refer to the "voice of conscience" or "voice within." DIFFERING VIEWS OF CONSCIENCE Views of conscience are not mutually exclusive, as can be seen by the quotes above, and by many other scholars. Although there is no generally accepted definition of what conscience is or what its role in Ethical decision-making is, there are two main factors that determine which stance is adopted. # Secular Views '(including the Psychological , Physiological , Sociological , Humanitarian and Authoritarian views.)' # Religious Views '(including the Divine Command Theory, the works of Newman , Aquinas , Butler , Bonhoeffer and so on).' # Philosophical Views '(including Hegel 's Philosophy Of Mind )' Religious views of conscience According to some religious perspectives, your conscience is what bothers you when you do evil to your neighbor, or which informs you of the right or wrong of an action before committing it. Doing good to your neighbor doesn't arouse the conscience to speak, but wickedness inflicted upon the innocent is sure to make the conscience scream. This is because in this world view, 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. A lying hypocrite is an example of someone who has ignored their conscience for so long that it fails to function. Many '' (1963). In popular culture, the conscience is often illustrated as two entities, an angel and a devil, each taking one shoulder. The angel often stands on the right, the good side; and the devil on the left, the Sinister side (left implying bad luck in Superstition , and the word sinister coming from the Latin word for left). 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 before Confession . Obedience to conscience has been claimed by many dissenters as a God-given right, from Martin Luther , who said (or reputedly said), "Here I stand, I can do no other," to progressive Catholics who disagree with certain Doctrine s or Dogma s. The Church eventually agreed, saying, "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). For further clarification please refer immediately to the Catechism of the Catholic Church Part Three, Article VI {Link without Title} wherein Moral conscience is being discussed in precise and divine way of discourses about conscience. Conscience in Protestant theology The Reformation began with Luther's crisis of conscience. And for many Protestant s, following one's consciences could rank higher than obedience to church authorities or accepted interpretations of the Bible . One example of a Protestant theologian who caused his church to rethink the issue of conscience was William Robertson Smith of the Free Church Of Scotland . Tried for heresy because of his use of modern methods of interpreting the Old Testament , he received only a token punishment. However the case contributed to a situation in which many Protestant denominations allow a wide variety of beliefs and practices to be held by their members in accordance with their conscience (see Presbyterianism#Doctrine ). Kindly refer to Mr. Randy Abao for more information about conscience of Protestant Theology Secular views of conscience Modern day scientists in the fields of Ethology , Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology seek to explain conscience as a function of the human brain that evolved to facilitate Reciprocal Altruism within Societies . As such it could be Instinct ive ( Genetically Determined ) or learnt. Psycho-Analytical views The psychologist Sigmund Freud regarded conscience as originating in the Superego , which takes its cue from our 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 . Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. 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 learnt, or Imprinted , like language, as part of a Culture . One person can feel a moral Duty to go to war, another can feel 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. See 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, a madman who threatens us with a chainsaw and one whose sexual practices we ourselves find revolting might both be labeled "bad." Indeed, one does not necessarily need to do anything to be "bad" - a natural Coward may provoke contempt, and thereby be a bad person (i.e., a coward), even without actually having any occasion to flee from the enemy. And the identification of badness can be quite subtle and involve reasoning. For instance: a sheriff that shoots a gunman is not thereby bad because he is not a threat to an average member of society (as the gunman is), and hence does not provoke ''fear.'' Yet gangs of criminals can perceive law enforcement officers as bad people. 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." 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 (those suffering from Psychopath , Sociopathy , Narcissism ) 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. |
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