Different Kinds of Conscience

Thomas More• Chancellor of

England under King Henry VIII

• Wrote Utopia which outlined a society ruled by perfect justice.

• A husband, father and martyr.

Antecedent - Consequent Conscience

Judgment is passed before an action is performed or only after the action is doneBut during the action as well.

Concomitant

Right and Erroneous Conscience

Right- judge what is really good as good and evil what is really evil.

Erroneous – judges what is bad as good and vice versa.

CONSCIENCE

• SINCERITY • CORRECTNESS

It is not enough to be sincere. It is important to be correct.

1. Certain Conscience

Subjective assurance of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of certain actions to be done or to be admitted.

2. Doubtful Conscience

Suspends judgment on the lawfulness of an action and therefore( it is possible) the action should be omitted.

3. Scrupulous Conscience

Constantly afraid of committing evil.

This conscience is a result of a stubborn character.

4. Lax Conscience

Conscience that tends to follow the easy way and to find excuses for mistakes

5. Guilty Conscience

Disturbed conscience trying to restore good relations with God by means of sorrow and repentance

Situational Analysis

1. Andy sees a wallet in an open locker next to his in the lobby locker area. He takes it out an finds P500 bill in it. The wallet does not belong to any of his friends. He is tempted to take the P500, but decides that this would be stealing. He puts the wallet back in the locker and closes it.

Andy chose correctly. He knows that theft is wrong and that it destroys trust. His conscience was correctly formed and led him to choose the value of honesty.

Situational Analysis

2. Barbara went to a party and got drunk. (This is serious matter because a person cannot think rationally or choose freely. Something essential has been destroyed).

When she went to the party, Barbara honestly didn’t see anything wrong with drinking. Later, when she discussed her behavior with her parents, she claimed that no one ever told her that drunkenness was seriously wrong.

In Barbara’s case, her conscience errs because of lack of information. It happens to youngsters whose parents are very prejudiced.

People with erroneous conscience must make a sincere effort to overcome their ignorant consciences. Everyone has a duty to grow in knowledge of right and wrong.

Situational Analysis

3. George copies homework from his friends, makes cheat sheets for tests, and plagiarizes materials for his class papers. His does this in all his classes. When discussions about cheating come up in class, he mentally blocks them out.

He once told a friend, “No one is going to tell me what to do.”

George has a lax conscience. He doesn’t care about others. He closes his mind to what is true and good. His only interest is himself. He is insincere and doesn’t want to try to walk to a virtuous path.

Questions?

Is it possible to have a good conscience even if we make

poor moral choices?

When can we say that a conscience is MATURE and when can we say that

it is IMMATURE?

Consider the following case:

Jessica, Anne, Gelo and Rey were out with some other friends celebrating at the beginning of Christmas vacation. Someone in their class suggested how much fun it would be to “trash” some of the Christmas decorations on the lawns in the neighborhood around the school.

Jessica, Anne, Gelo, Rey decided not to join in. Why?

Mature or Less than Mature Conscience

Rey was already in trouble with the school administration. He could not afford another bad report on his record.

Jessica would be ashamed if her parents found out. She loves them and doesn’t want to do anything to embarrass them.

Anne quickly dismissed this “fun prank” as being a basic violation of other people’s rights.

Gelo wanted to join in the fun, but since none of her group wanted to, she decided to stick with them.

MATURE• A conscience that

weighs decisions• It considers basic

dignity of others and the respect due them.

• It looks to God’s law of love and is open to truth and goodness.

IMMATURE• A conscience that

act out of other (not so good) motives.

• For example– a need to avoid

punishment– desire for rewards– wish to please

others

Is it better to do right things with wrong reasons or wrong things

for the right reason?Explain your answer.