Evaluating Religious Ideas of Conscience
Who’s criticisms are these:
Philosopher ______
•Conscience cannot be questioned. It is the voice of God within. Many find this view hard to accept, especially when it goes against the Church.
•Those who oppose the idea of conscience argue that it is not possible to verify whether it is God’s voice or self-delusion.
•It also seems that God contradicts himself - what if the conscience of one person leads him to do precisely the opposite of someone else?
Philosopher ______
•Believes that we know exactly what God expects of us if we listen to our conscience - this means that there are no dilemmas.
•Following our conscience will lead to happiness as we are following God
•But can we really know that our conscience is a command from God?
•If conscience does come from God, there should be no inconsistencies and so there should be absolute morals across the world.
Philosopher ______
•Clearly links the Biblical view of the law of God written on our hearts
•His ideas also link to our experience of guilt when we have done something wrong
•This has the same weaknesses as Butler - how can we be sure that it is God that is speaking to us, through our conscience when even religious people have doubts over the right thing to do.
•If conscience is innate and intuitive, we would expect everyone to have similar ideas on what is right and wrong.
•This philosopher would say that if we have differences, it is because we have not been taught correctly the moral teachings of the Church: our conscience needs educating.
Philosopher ______
•Recognises that there are thought processes whether deciding an action is right or wrong, but does not allow for emotional responses to ethical dilemmas
•Recognises that it is right to follow one’s conscience (you are following your right telos), but also that it can be mistaken due to ignorance
•However, if your conscience can lead you astray, what does this say about God’s gift of reason
•Some Christians would argue that this rationalistic approach does not allow for revelation coming directly from God.
•the conscience is grounded in Natural Law. This fundamental understanding of nature is no longer consistent with modern understanding of how nature works.
Evaluating Religious Ideas of Conscience
Who’s criticisms are these:
Philosopher ______
Augustine
•Conscience cannot be questioned. It is the voice of God within. Many find this view hard to accept, especially when it goes against the Church.
•Those who oppose the idea of conscience argue that it is not possible to verify whether it is God’s voice or self-delusion.
•It also seems that God contradicts himself - what if the conscience of one person leads him to do precisely the opposite of someone else?
Philosopher ______
Butler
•Believes that we know exactly what God expects of us if we listen to our conscience - this means that there are no dilemmas.
•Following our conscience will lead to happiness as we are following God
•But can we really know that our conscience is a command from God?
•If conscience does come from God, there should be no inconsistencies and so there should be absolute morals across the world.
Philosopher ______
Newman
•Clearly links the Biblical view of the law of God written on our hearts
•His ideas also link to our experience of guilt when we have done something wrong
•This has the same weaknesses as Butler - how can we be sure that it is God that is speaking to us, through our conscience when even religious people have doubts over the right thing to do.
•If conscience is innate and intuitive, we would expect everyone to have similar ideas on what is right and wrong.
•This philosopher would say that if we have differences, it is because we have not been taught correctly the moral teachings of the Church: our conscience needs educating.
Philosopher ______
Aquinas
•Recognises that there are thought processes whether deciding an action is right or wrong, but does not allow for emotional responses to ethical dilemmas
•Recognises that it is right to follow one’s conscience (you are following your right telos), but also that it can be mistaken due to ignorance
•However, if your conscience can lead you astray, what does this say about God’s gift of reason
•Some Christians would argue that this rationalistic approach does not allow for revelation coming directly from God.
•the conscience is grounded in Natural Law. This fundamental understanding of nature is no longer consistent with modern understanding of how nature works.