Conscience
Conscience is the innate or learned ability of individuals to discern right from wrong, a concept that has intrigued philosophers, religious leaders, and psychologists since ancient times. The term itself derives from the Latin "conscientia," meaning a shared moral knowledge, indicating an internal moral guide that prompts self-reflection on moral choices. The origins of conscience are debated, with theories suggesting it is either an inherent trait, a learned characteristic shaped by society, or an evolutionary advantage. The development of an individual's conscience is influenced by their moral code, which evolves over their lifetime through various stages.
Historical perspectives on conscience show a shift from ancient Greek notions of morality, which were largely dictated by societal norms, to modern interpretations that emphasize personal moral codes. Prominent thinkers like Aristotle, Aquinas, and Kohlberg have all contributed to understanding how conscience and moral reasoning develop. Kohlberg's framework outlines six stages of moral development, illustrating how individuals progress from basic obedience to broader, abstract principles of justice. This complexity highlights the interplay between societal influences and personal moral evolution, making the study of conscience a rich field for exploring human behavior and ethical decision-making.
Subject Terms
Conscience
Conscience refers to humanity's innate or learned ability to tell right from wrong. It has been studied since the ancient Greeks. Many philosophers, religious leaders, and scientists have struggled to find the root of the phenomena. Many have proposed varied theories about its origin. Some believe that humans are born as a blank slate, and that their conscience is a learned trait. Others believe that the conscience is of divine origin, something specifically placed in humans. Still others believe that the conscience was an advantageous evolutionary trait in humans, something created through natural selection.
An individual's conscience is shaped by their moral code. Moral codes evolve and change throughout an individual's lifetime. However, the mechanism by which moral codes grow and evolve is still being debated. Many psychologists and philosophers, such as Aristotle and Kohlberg, have developed their own ideas about how individuals' morals and conscience evolve throughout their lives.
Background
The word conscience evolved from the Latin word conscientia, which translates to "sharing knowledge with someone." The word itself does not specify the type of knowledge, or with whom the knowledge is being shared. However, a modern interpretation of the term refers specifically to moral knowledge shared with the self. This means a conscience informs a person when a choice is morally questionable.
Textual references to an internalized moral compass, what humans would later refer to as a conscience, can be found as early as the fifth century BCE Greek writers, such as Plato and Aristotle, discussed the morality of the time in great detail. Though neither specifically mentions the conscience itself, they discuss the proper virtues that a Greek citizen should uphold at any given time. They also discuss practical wisdom, which allows a person to make quick moral judgments in a given situation, and weak willpower, which causes a person to give in to the temptation of immoral behavior. These concepts are directly relevant to the modern understanding of the conscience and provide a foundation for theories relating to it.
While modern sentiments of the conscience are partially based on ancient Greek ideas and ideals, the moral culture of ancient Greek city states was different from twenty-first century moral culture. During the Late Bronze Age, most Greek morality was based around a shame culture. In a shame culture, moral codes are focused on preserving honor and reputation in the eyes of society in general. A person's first priority is to avoid public shaming by his or her peers, and avoiding permanent damage to one's reputation. This allows the moral code of a society to be dictated by the opinion of the majority of its citizens.
Entering the Archaic Period at about the eighth century BCE, Greek society moved toward a guilt culture. In a guilt culture, individuals are encouraged to act according to their own personal moral code. A failure to uphold their moral code causes individuals to feel an internally generated sense of shame, rather than an externally generated sense of shame. Guilt culture is much closer to a modern interpretation of the conscience than shame culture.
Medieval philosophers built many of their arguments and theories about the conscience on the foundation laid by the ancient Greeks. Famous thirteenth century Christian theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas often argued in favor of Plato's teachings. He believed that the Greeks set out a distinction between the true conscience and a concept called synderesis. Unlike what Aquinas viewed as a conscience, synderesis was adherent only to vague principles. These might include "be helpful" or "obey God." Aquinas believed that such ideals were learned through experience and study and became habitual; he did not believe they were innate characteristics of people. He also believed that the role of the conscience was to tell humans when to apply the concepts known by their synderesis to everyday tasks and situations.
The Franciscan philosopher Bonaventure, an intellectual contemporary of Aquinas, disagreed with Aquinas about the conscience. He believed that the broad characteristics Aquinas associated with the synderesis were innate in humans. According to his theories, humans are born knowing vague moral precepts such as "do not harm other people." He argued that this part of the human mind could not be corrupted by immoral acts, and that humans would always retain these general moral values. However, Bonaventure agreed that a second part of the conscience was involved in applying these concepts to real-life situations. He thought that the second part of the conscience could become confused, applying the wrong moral values to situations. This might cause good people to commit crimes and other immoral acts.
Overview
According to psychologists, the conscience is the mechanism that allows humans to examine and self-regulate their behavior. It checks an individual's actions against his or her existing moral preferences and moral rules. When individuals take actions that conflict with their personal moral rules and preferences, they feel shame and guilt.
Many psychologists draw an important distinction between moral rules and moral preferences. Moral preferences refer to an individual's feelings on a certain act. For example, the phrase "I do not believe that I should eat bacon" is a moral preference. In contrast, moral rules are preferences that individuals also apply to others. For example, "I do not believe that people should eat bacon" is a moral rule. Moral rules are associated with moral condemnation, which refers to condemning people for violating someone else's personal moral code.
Because a conscience must compare actions to an individual's moral code, it requires a clearly formed sense of morality to function properly. Most psychologists believe that people go through stages of moral development, during which their personal moral codes are subject to change. Both philosophers and psychologists have studied the evolution of morality throughout individuals' lifetimes.
Many ancient philosophers believed that morals developed in a teleological manner. This means that people adopted and abandoned moral stances according to the stances' value to society. If it was beneficial for society to shame a certain act to reduce its occurrence, society would do so. If it was beneficial for society to praise the act to increase its occurrence, society would approve of it.
Modern cognitive psychology has a different take on the matter. Psychologists who study moral development often take cues from anthropology, developmental psychology, political psychology, sociology, and education. Together, they study professional codes, ethical codes, and cultural moral codes as they develop throughout individuals' lifetimes. Many in the field of cognitive psychology believe that empirical results, defined as results observed in the real world, are the most valuable form of results.
To truly morally develop, cognitive psychologists believe that a person must have the cognitive flexibility to change over time, while still being internally stable enough to retain critical personality traits throughout the transitions. If this is the case, it means that most humans have a conscious role in shaping both their conscience and moral code throughout their lifetimes.
Some other developmental psychologists argue that human moral codes are primarily shaped by external events. These psychologists believe that as events impact individuals, the individuals' responses are slowly ingrained in their personality. For example, an individual consistently exposed to aggressive behavior will develop a different personality and moral code than an individual who is consistently exposed to peaceful behavior.
Psychologists who believe that humans are primarily shaped by external events argue that each major impact on a person replaces the individual with a similar but slightly different version of oneself. While this does result in a form of moral evolution, the individual involved has only the illusion of control over oneself. Individuals have no control over how their conscience and moral code are shaped.
Piaget's Teachings
While the argument between a learned conscience and a shaped conscience is still debated today, other philosophers argue that humans have the capacity to travel through several moral stages throughout their lifetimes. Based on the teachings of Jean Piaget, these researchers recognized the importance of pride, shame, and guilt in reinforcing social norms and adherence to the moral code.
Piaget's research discovered two primary stages of human moral development. The heteronomous stage occurs during childhood. During the heteronomous phase of moral development, children are heavily conditioned by outside influences on ideas of right, wrong, and responsibility. They form interests that may last for the rest of their lives, and external influences show them how to feel about those interests. The personality of the child is not always resilient enough to resist modification by powerful external sources. For this reason, children's consciences and moral codes are both exceptionally vulnerable and exceptionally malleable.
Over time, the heteronomous phase transitions into the autonomous phase, which is associated with adulthood. During the autonomous phase, most of the individual's moral code and conscience is set. The individual's personality has become secure and resilient enough that it requires either a powerful external stimulus or a great deal of personal effort to alter their moral code. In this phase, the individual is mostly concerned with doing right within one's particular code. Individuals feel pride when they act in concert with the beliefs set during the heteronomous phase, and may feel shame and guilt when they act against them.
Kohlberg's Theory
The famed psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg agreed that humans developed both a conscience and moral code in stages throughout their lives. However, Kohlberg thought that heteronomous and autonomous stages were not the only steps to moral development. After decades of research, Kohlberg broke moral development down into six stages. He believed that an individual could get stuck at any one stage, and fail to ever advance past it.
Kohberg's first stage is punishment and obedience. During this stage, individuals conform to societal expectations through fear of shame and punishment. They do not act virtuously for its own sake, and instead try to avoid pain however they can. During his second stage, individuals begin to act in a quid pro quo manner. They understand the justice of exchanging favors, and understand the concept of revenge. According to Kohlberg, most children only reach stage one or two. He also believed that many career criminals failed to advance beyond stage two. In this stage, the conscience only shames the individual when they act in a way that is commonly punished.
During stage three, individuals seek to conform to societal standards. They want to feel like part of the group. For this reason, they view virtuous behavior as whatever pleases or benefits other individuals within their group. Peer pressure is often used as a tool of negotiation, and social shaming becomes a powerful punishment. During stage four, individuals begin to trust in fixed laws and authority. They believe authority is correct for authority's sake, and that the law should be upheld out of respect. They believe that criminals should be punished to pay their debt to society, and that most morally correct behavior maintains the social order. According to Kohlberg, most adults never move past stage four. During this stage, the conscience shames those who act against the group, or act against society.
Individuals who reach stage five of Kohlberg's moral stages act according to abstract moral principles. They genuinely believe in greater ideals, such as justice and the common good, and act in ways that embody those ideals. They understand that in any situation the right thing to do may not always be clear, and that different situational contexts might require different outcomes.
Finally, an individual who reaches stage six acts according to the genuine equality and worth of all living things. They work to ensure that the needs and dignity of every being are met, and they live primarily according to the golden rule. According to Kohlberg, individuals rarely achieve this stage. During this stage, the conscience shames the individual when they violate the rights of any sentient being.
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