Where does the conscience come from?

in #psychology6 years ago (edited)

Why does conscience have authority in morality? Is it possible within us to have a moral authority to judge our actions and even sometimes to challenge the authority of the tradition? Can a man fight against this "public opinion" through this voice? To criticize common customs, norms, values? Does not he then become "non-decent", a rebel, a nihilist? Let's look at different views of conscience and their arguments about her authority in morality.

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The voice of the demon - When accusing him of "destroying the youngsters" and "not recognizing the gods," Socrates refers to an inner voice - his demon. This demon prevented him from doing certain acts. Socrates trusts one of his internal moral instances and refuses to obey certain norms of the Athenian society. That is why he was sentenced to death by his fellow citizens. So at the cost of his life, Socrates pays his trust in his conscience. History justifies it. His contemporaries repent soon after the execution of the sentence. Because they understand that one should not blindly follow the tradition. Moral is not written on stones, no matter how old they are. It is moral only that which endures the examination of conscience and reason. Voice of God - In Socrates' position, however, we can find weakness. It is rooted in the fact that the demon who speaks to him is only his demon. Others do not hear that voice. Can we rely on such a voice that others do not hear? Morality must be shared by the entire human community. Christian philosophers have another solution. For them conscience is not the voice of a personal demon but a voice of God. God is one for all human beings and that is why in his voice there is no reason to doubt. Thomas of Aquino speaks of the "consilium", which must precede decision-making. "Conscience is that depth in human nature, where she touches God, receives news from Him and hears God's voice," says Russian religious philosopher Nikolay Berdjaev. Voice of the Super-Ego- The idea of Sigmund Freud is much simpler. According to the father of psychoanalysis, conscience is the voice of the Super-Ego. Through this voice the norms of society speak. This voice suppresses the unconscious wishes of the Ego. In this way, he appears in our soul as an authoritative moral authority. Conscience is an internalised voice of society.

Internal court - Immanuel Kant's idea is particularly attractive. Kant does not resort to either demons or deities. According to him, conscience is a judgment that the self performs over himself. Consequently, man is not a moral anarchist and does not need at all costs an external power to be virtuous. The man himself has a debate about the morality of the acts he does. Conscience is a forum where one considers the correctness of what he intends to do or has already done. Through conscience a person pronounces judgment on his moral mistakes. And he punishes himself by shame and remorse. Call for Authenticity - In his book, Merciful Science, Nietzsche states: "What does your conscience say?" "Becoming what you are." This formula is paradoxically paradoxical - how can you want to become what you are? Are moral efforts necessary for Does this have to have a conscience to achieve it? Interpretation can be found at Heidegger. According to him, what conscience calls us is our own authenticity. Conscience helps us to leave the impersonal life of "das Man," where "I do what everyone does", "read what I read," "talk about what is being spoken," etc. In the idle life of "das Man," there is no authentic person - there "everyone else is, and nobody is themselves". In it the speech and the empty curiosity depict. Only conscience can bring us back to our uniqueness and uniqueness.

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