Conscience

Introduction to Conscience

Have you ever felt a "tug" in your gut when you were about to do something wrong? Or felt a sense of peace after doing the right thing? Most people call this the conscience. In this chapter, we explore whether this conscience is a gift from God, a product of our upbringing, or simply our mind using reason to make decisions.

In the AQA A Level, you need to understand religious and non-religious views on what the conscience actually is, how it helps us make decisions about lying and adultery, and whether it is actually a reliable guide for our lives. Don't worry if it feels abstract at first—we will break it down step-by-step!

1. Religious Views of Conscience: St Thomas Aquinas

The most important religious view for this specification comes from Aquinas. He didn't think the conscience was a "mystical voice" from God. Instead, he believed it was a rational process. Because humans are made in the image of God, we have been given the gift of reason (ratio).

Key Concepts in Aquinas’ View:

• Ratio (Reason): This is our God-given ability to think things through. Conscience isn't a feeling; it is an act of the mind.
• Synderesis: Aquinas believed humans have a natural "habit" or inclination to do good and avoid evil. He called this the synderesis rule.
• Conscientia: This is the actual process of applying our reason to a specific situation to decide what to do.

Can the Conscience be Wrong?

Aquinas argued that the conscience is binding (you must follow it), but it isn't perfect. We can make mistakes if our reasoning is flawed. He identified two types of ignorance:

1. Vincible Ignorance: This is a "blameworthy" mistake. You should have known better, but you didn't bother to find out the truth (e.g., breaking a law because you didn't check the signs).
2. Invincible Ignorance: This is a mistake that isn't your fault. You acted with the best intentions and information available, but things still went wrong (e.g., giving a gift that accidentally causes harm).

Quick Review: For Aquinas, Conscience = Reason + Synderesis + Application. It is a "theological" view because it relies on God-given reason.

2. Non-Religious Views of Conscience

Non-religious (secular) views argue that the conscience doesn't come from God. Instead, it is seen as a psychological or sociological phenomenon. While various thinkers explore this, the core idea is that the "voice" in our head is actually a result of our environment.

The Psychological Approach:

In this view, the conscience is often seen as a product of guilt and conditioning. From a young age, we are told what is "right" and "wrong" by parents, teachers, and society. When we go against these rules, we feel a sense of inner conflict or anxiety. This isn't God speaking; it is our internalised authority figures telling us we have done something "bad."

The Sociological Approach:

Some argue that conscience is simply a tool for social survival. To live together in a group, we need rules (like "don't steal"). The conscience is just the name we give to the pressure we feel to follow these social norms so that the community doesn't reject us.

Key Takeaway: Religious views see conscience as a higher faculty (reason or God's guidance), while non-religious views see it as a learned response or psychological mechanism.

3. Applying Conscience to Moral Issues

You must be able to explain how the conscience works in two specific cases: lying/breaking promises and adultery.

Case 1: Lying and Breaking Promises

• The Religious View (Aquinas): Aquinas would use the Synderesis Rule (do good, avoid evil). Lying goes against the Primary Precept of living in an ordered society. Therefore, the ratio (reason) would dictate that lying is wrong because it breaks the bond of trust required for society to function.
• The Non-Religious View: A secular conscience might focus on the social consequences. If we all lied, society would collapse. The "guilt" we feel when breaking a promise is a result of knowing we have let someone down or violated a social contract.

Case 2: Adultery

• The Religious View (Aquinas): Aquinas believed the conscience would identify adultery as a mistake of reason. While the person might find the act pleasurable, their reason should tell them it breaks the Primary Precept of "worshipping God" (as marriage is a sacrament) and "ordered society." He noted that someone might commit adultery because of vincible ignorance (giving in to passion) or invincible ignorance (e.g., if a man believes a woman is his wife when she is not—an unlikely but famous example he used!).
• The Non-Religious View: A secular view might see the "guilt" of adultery as a conflict between our basic desires and the moral rules we were taught by our family or society. It is the feeling of having betrayed a personal commitment or a social expectation of monogamy.

4. The Value of Conscience as a Moral Guide

Is the conscience actually useful? This is a great topic for AO2 (Evaluation) questions. Here are the two sides of the argument:

Why it is VALUABLE:

• Personal Responsibility: It encourages individuals to take ownership of their actions rather than just blindly following laws.
• Universal: Everyone seems to have a sense of "right and wrong," making it a shared human experience.
• Flexible: Unlike a static list of rules, the conscience (as ratio) can be applied to new and complex situations.

Why it might NOT be valuable:

• Subjectivity: One person's conscience might tell them to do something that another person's conscience says is evil (e.g., in war).
• Unreliable: It can be distorted by upbringing, prejudice, or mental health issues. If it's just "guilt" from childhood, is it really a good moral guide?
• Difficulty in Verification: There is no way to "prove" what the conscience is saying. It is an internal, private experience.

Summary Table: Religious vs. Non-Religious

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Thinking Aquinas said conscience is the "Voice of God."
Correction: Aquinas said it is the process of reasoning. It is a human faculty, not a direct supernatural telegram.

Mistake 2: Forgetting to link back to the specific examples.
Correction: Always mention lying or adultery if the question asks about the "role" of conscience in decision-making.

Mistake 3: Confusing Vincible and Invincible ignorance.
Memory Trick: Vincible sounds like "Convictable" (you are at fault). Invincible sounds like "Invisible" (the fault isn't visible because you couldn't have known better).