Conscience

Etymology: con (with) + scientia
(knowledge) [From scire (to know)].

The word “conscience” derives from the
Latin cum (together) and scientia, scire
(to know).

Conscience is our lived knowledge
of good and evil, our judgment
about how we should act, and our
commitment to do so.

A moral faculty or feeling prompting
us to see that certain actions are
morally right or wrong.

Conscience is the person’s moral
faculty, the inner core and sanctuary
where one knows oneself in
confrontation with God and with
fellowmen. (Bernard Haring, CSsR)

“An inward moral impression of one’s
actions and principles… as the
inward faculty of moral judgment…
as the inward moral and spiritual
frame” (Analytical Greek Lexicon)

“our most
secret core
and
sanctuary”
where we
encounter God;
our heart
(Catechism#1776).

a law inscribed
in our hearts by
God and
recognized as
our own; its voice
calls us “to love
and do what is
good and avoid
evil” (Catechism
#1776; Romans 2:14-
15).

our moral
compass that
directs us to
good or evil.

our moral sensory
faculty: capacity to see,
feel, hear, smell, and
touch the good; moral
appetite us as we judge
moral questions (whole
person includes intellect,
feeling, imagination, and
will).

CONSCIENCE IN CHRISTIAN
THEOLOGY

Conscience as an Act of the Intellect
(The judgement of Reason)
Conscience is a particular instance
of the operation of reason.

A process in which the general
norms of the moral law are applied
to a concrete action which a person
is about to perform or has
performed

Tells the person that his moral
obligation is here and now or
judging is past acts.

2 Essential parts of Conscience:
Synderesis and Conscientia

Synderesis’ discovers very basic moral
principles; the use of right reason by which
we learn basic moral principles and
understand that we have to do good and
avoid evil. (the starting point)

‘Conscientia’ (conscience) = practical
reason which tells us what to do in particular
situations (end – judgement of concience)

Role of Conscience
1.Investigate
2.Judge
3.Pass judgement on one’s moral action

Approves Commends
Reproaches Condemns
Forbids Commands
Accuses Absolves

Judge and Arbiter

Conscience as a practical moral
judgment: the “dictate of conscience”

Conscience
• is a practical moral judgment (ultimate
practical judgment) on the morality of a
particular action commanding to do what is
good and to avoid what is evil.
• When in doubt to obey or not
• Inferential reasoning using principles of
natural law
• Connecting link between law and individual
acts

Example: It was the night before their final
examination. Cherise prepared a “kodigo”. She
earnestly desired to get a high grade in the exam
and to impress her classmates as well. However, on
the day of the exam, she felt a growing uneasiness
deep within herself and gave up her plan.

The feeling of uneasiness - result of conscience
which made her realize her moral obligation to be
honest, which led her to give up her plan to cheat.

Therefore if conscience tells us that this act is
cheating and therefore is bad, it is a moral judgment
which expresses that we are morally bound not to
do the act. If we go ahead and do not follow my
conscience, we sin.

As a practical moral judgment: the “dictate of
conscience”

Two basic elements of conscience:
1. Moral judgment that discerns what is right or wrong
2.Moral obligation or command to do the good and avoid
the evil.

Augustine and Franciscan
School
Conscience is the place of
the innermost encounter
between God and man; the
voice of God;

A divine center of the person
where he is addressed by
God and in it he is aware of
God and the soul.

Bonaventure and great
mystics
Conscience as the scintilla
animae, the spark of the
soul

Peak of the soul; the center
of the soul where man
encounters God and is at
least accessible to the
contamination of sin.

“In the depths of his or her
conscience, the human person
detects a law which she or he
does not impose upon
themselves, but which holds
them to obedience. Always
summoning them to love good
and avoid evil, the voice of
conscience when necessary
speaks to their heart: do this,
shun that.
Gaudium et Spes, Pastoral Constitution
on the Church in the Modern World,
#16

“Deep within our conscience we discover a law
which we have not laid on ourselves, but which we
must obey.
• We are not the source of our own conscience.
• We cannot manipulate or silence our conscience.
• It will never leave us peace unless it is obeyed.

Its voice, ever calling us to love and to do what is
good and to avoid evil, tell us inwardly at the right
time: do this, shun that.
• a law within us that always commands us to do good
and avoid evil

For man has in his heart a law
written by God; to obey it is the
very dignity of man; according to
it he will be judged.(9)
Conscience is the most secret
core and sanctuary of a man.
There he is alone with God,
Whose voice echoes in his
depths.(10) Gaudium et Spes,
Pastoral Constitution on the Church
in the Modern World, #16

For persons have in their hearts a law written
by God. To obey it is their very dignity;
according to it they will be judged.
• The source of our conscience is GOD.
• To obey it is our very dignity as true images
of God.

Conscience is the most secret core and
sanctuary of all persons. There they are alone
with God, whose voice echoes in their depths. ”
•the core or sanctuary where God speaks to us/
meets the person as a free and intelligent being
who has the capacity to make choices.

Conscience as a Proximate Norm of Morality

• Immediate, accessible, practical guide in
relation to the objective norm

• Direct and personal access

• Subjective norm; has to conform with a
higher standard, an objective norm

Conscience: A Dialogue Between Man and
God
• A response to the call of God as a moral
being
• To be inline with God’s plan
• Response to the call of discipleship

Social and Reciprocal Dimension of
Conscience
• A realm within the individual, self-
reflection, self-awareness, personal
growing towards wholeness
• But also co-exists with the conscience of
other human beings
• belongs to others as a member of a
community
• Encountering the conscience of others
leads to real growth and wholenss

OLD TESTAMENT
Limited interest in
conscience; inner moral
authority

Stress is direct relations
wit God; listening to the
Word of God is primary

“Syneidesis” – a Greek
word for conscience
appeared only in the Book
of Wisdom

OLD TESTAMENT
Some expressions related to conscience:

“ Mind” “Loins” “Heart”

Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind
and my heart. (Psalm 26:2)

But, O LORD Almighty, you who judge righteously
and test the heart and mind, let me see your
vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed
my cause. (Jer 11:20)

OLD TESTAMENT
Some expressions related to conscience:

“ Mind” “Loins” “Heart”

Conscience condemns man after sin is known.
(Gen 3:7-10 – Adam and Eve, Gen 4:9-14 – Cain
and Abel)

Conscience praises man for justice. (Job 27:6, Ps
17:3, 26, ff, 139:23 – ff)

Judgement of conscience in the OT - ultimately
voice of God.

NEW TESTAMENT

St. Paul used the
word “syneidesis”

A Greek concept;
a negative judge
of completed or
at least initiated
action.

NEW TESTAMENT

Conscience is:

1.A God-given capacity for human being to
exercise self-evaluation (Acts 23:1, 24:16, 1
Cor 4:4)

Paul refers to his conscience as “good” “clear”,
“blameless, his values and standards in
conformity with God’s standards; conscience a
faculty to evaluate good and evil.

NEW TESTAMENT

Conscience is:

2.A witness
•Romans 2:14 –15 = God’s law written in hearts
of Gentiles
•Romans 9:1 = His conscience as witness he is
telling the truth
•2 Cor 1:12 = he conducts self with holiness and
sincerity

NEW TESTAMENT

Conscience is:

3. A Servant to the individual’s value system
Romans 14, 1 Cor 8 – the issue of the Church of
Corinth eating food sacrificed for idols; Paul
instructing not to eat from the disputed food in
the presence of the weaker brothers so as not to
seduce them from acting against their
conscience and sin.

NEW TESTAMENT

Conscience is:

3. A Servant to the individual’s value system
A weak value system produces weak sense of
right and wrong while a strong value system
produces a strong sense of right and wrong.
Conscience can be erroneous and cannot be
directly equated to the voice of God; it examines
and not creates norms; it uses criteria to judge
what people do or fail to do.

NEW TESTAMENT

Conscience is:

4. A universal endowment of all human
beings
Romans 2:14-ff : Gentiles have the possibility to
fulfill the moral law even without the knowledge
of the written law; their conscience bears
witness and shows what the law requires;
everybody has conscience, endowed with a
faculty for moral judgements

SUMMARY

Conscience receives a growing attention in the Bible

In the Old Testament, the emphasis is more on man
listening to the Word of God rather than an inner
moral authority – conscience.

In the New Testament, conscience is described as an
endowment embedded in the context of faith and
oriented by it.

SUMMARY

In the New Testament, conscience is also seen as a
reality with limitations owing to man’s limitations a a
creature; a reality in need of cleansing and purification

For the Bible, the key words in ethics is not the
concept of conscience experienced as something
subjective and individual. The distinctive words are:
obedience and love or service, always give
expression of a transcendental relationship.

Conscience can evidently
err. Even then it still
manifests the will of God
not in the sense that God
wills the error. It is the
voice of God in the sense
that God wills the good
faith and the love of the
good of which it remains
an expression.

KINDS OF
CONSCIENCE
AND ITS
BINDING
FORCE

A. Conscience in the Process
of Time: Antecedent,
Concomitant, Consequent

Antecedent: Judgment on morality of action
and obligation to perform or omit is passed
before action is translated to reality.
It helps us to sort out the data and examine
the morality of an act before we perform it.
It commands, exhorts, permits or forbids.


Concomitant: During the action; refers to
one’s actual awareness of being morally
responsible for the goodness and the
badness of the particular act while one is
doing it.
eg. Scolding or disapproving (as in the case
of habitual sins: kupit, saying bad words,
answering back, etc.) or approving (as in the
case of good habits).


Consequent: if it evaluates an act already
done or omitted.

It is the process of looking back to review and
evaluate the morality of what we have done.

It approves, excuses, reproves or accuses.

B. Conscience seen
according to the
Objective Norm (In
Harmony or Disharmony
with the Objective Truth)

Correct or True Conscience
Discerns the good as good and
bad as bad.

Subjective and objective norms
are consistent / in harmony
with each other

Erroneous or False
Conscience

Discerns the good as bad and
bad as good.

Subjective and objective norms
are inconsistent / in
disharmony

Vincibly erroneous:
The error is due to one’s own
fault but, with some good will,
can still be corrected.

It often happens when one is
doubtful and do not take time
and energy to find out what is
truly good and bad.

Culpable and cannot be followed
as a legitimate rule of action.

Invincibly erroneous:

It is the type that is not due to
one’s own fault;

Person has no awareness of
the possibility of error;

Must be followed just the same
as a certain conscience
which is right.

Perplexed conscience:
This type of erroneous
conscience fears sin in
whatever choice it makes
(conflict of values).
This usually occurs in
individuals who are less
acquainted with moral
norms.
If the decision can be delayed,
postpone action to obtain
information, if not, choose the
lesser evil.

Pharisaical:
Imagines grave sins as small

Magnifies the little offenses as
serious

Can be considered as lax
conscience

B. Conscience in Relation to Certitude
(Firmness in its Judgment of the
Morality of the Act

Certain Conscience
It passes judgment without
fear of error.

It is purity of intention.
One’s moral actions are not
for show but arise from a
sincere intention to do
what is right; is acting
according to one’s
convictions.

This must always be
obeyed when it commands
or forbids

Doubtful Conscience
It is uncertain concerning
the morality of an action;

therefore it suspends its
judgments; or it passes
judgments but with
reasonable fear of erring;

One may never act in a
practical doubt on the
lawfulness of an action; act
can be postponed there is
certainty.

Lax conscience:
With insufficient grounds,
conscience is inclined to
judge a thing to be truthful
when in fact sinful; allowable
when objectively it is not

Considers something to be a
light sin when actually it is a
grave one.

Need to reform state of mind;
considered erroneous

Scrupulous conscience:

It is in constant dread of sin
where there is none, or of
grave sin when there is only
venial sin.

DEVELOPMENT
OF
CONSCIENCE

Freud

The human personality consists of three
areas:
the superego – the set of moral controls
given to us by outside influences. It is our
moral code or conscience and is often in
conflict with the Id.
the ego – the conscious self, the part seem
by the outside world.
id – the unconscious self, the part of the
mind containing basic drives and repressed
memories. It is amoral, has no concerns
about right and wrong and is only concerned

Freud

Conscience is most clearly connected
with the sense of guilt that we feel when
we go against our conscience.

Conscience then is simply a construct of
the mind.

In religious people this would be in
response to perceptions of God.

Freud

In non-religious people it would be their
responses to externally imposed
authority.

The content of our consciences are
shaped by our experiences

The superego internalises the
disapproval of others and creates the
guilty conscience

Piaget
• A child’s moral sense develops and
the ability to reason morally depends
on cognitive development.

Heteronomous morality (between the
ages of 5 and 10 years) when the
conscience is still immature, rules are
not to be broken and punishment is
expected if a rule is broken. The
consequences of an action will show if it
is right or wrong.

Autonomous morality (10+) when children
develop their own rules and understand how rules
operate in and help society. The move towards
autonomous morality occurs when the child is less
dependant on others for moral authority.

Kohlberg
People move from:
• behaving in socially acceptable ways
because they are told to do so by
authority figures and want to gain
approval,
• to keeping the law
• to caring for others
• and finally respect for universal principles
and the demands of an individual
conscience.
– Kohlberg felt that most adults never
got beyond keeping the law.

I will not steal
because if I get
caught I will be
punished.

I will steal the
drugs for my
wife for if she
dies, nobody
will take care
of me anymore.

I will steal the
drug because
if my wife
remains
untreated and
dies, our
friends will say
I did not take
care of her.

I will not steal
the drug
because for
stealing is
against the
law.

The drug
should be
made available
to anyone who
needs it, not
possessed by
one person for
his own
interest.

The human being is more
important than any law or
convention. I have to save her not
because she is my wife but
because she is a human being who
needs help.

Fromm
Authoritarian Conscience
• all humans are influenced by
external authorities which apply
rules and punishments for breaking
them
• these are internalised by the
individual
• a guilty conscience is a result of
displeasing the authority
• disobedience produces guilt which
makes us more submissive to the

Fromm
Humanistic Conscience
He saw the humanistic conscience as being
much healthier as it assesses and evaluates
our behaviour.
We use it to judge how successful we are as
people.
We use our own discoveries in life and the
teachings and example of others to give us
personal integrity and moral honesty.
This is the opposite to the slavish obedience
and conformity of the authoritarian conscience.

External Environment
People, family, home
Authority, society
Laws, rules, expectations

Dynamic process Human
Person
Interiority
Development of the sense of what is good and bad

LEVELS OF CONSCIENCE

1.FEAR CONSCIENCE

a)operates on the instinctive level
b)focuses
• on the command,
• on the material breaking of the
command,
• on escaping punishment, and
• on being restored to the good
graces of the authority figure.

2. MORAL-ETHICAL
CONSCIENCE
a) looks beneath the
command of the
authority to the inner
moral good or evil of
the act
b) The inner good or evil
is judged in terms of
the value of the
human person in
community.

3. CHRISTIAN ( Religious)
CONSCIENCE
a) operates on the religious
level
b) Not some separated area
but the whole of our daily
lives,
c) Using ethical reason
d) But now strengthened
and illumined by Christ’s
revelation and grace
e) METANOIA

Formation of a Christian
Conscience

Objective Moral
Order

Conscience judges a moral
Objective act as it relates to the
Pole objective moral order
“outside” of the person.

The Person
The resulting judgement of
the faculty of conscience
can be either right or Subjective
erroneous. Pole

Objective Moral
Order
The adult conscience
“interiorizes” the external
Objective voice of the objective norms
Pole directing or constraining the
person.

Interiorization arises from the The Person
conviction of the inner value of
the moral obligation which Subjective
enables human person to Pole
answer God’s call.

Everyone is obliged to use serious diligence to
possess on all occasions a true conscience.

Overcome ignorance and error by applying
ourselves to the study of our moral, civil and
Church’s laws and regulations.

Overcome doubts in moral matters by forming
good habits of reasoning or by consulting
prudent and virtuous persons.

Form

Reform Inform

Conscience in Action
Formation Strengths/Obstacles
Discern
Information Resources/Obstacles
Reconsider Discernment Insights/Blindspots
Decision and Action Strengths/Weaknesses
Reflection to Reform Strengths/Obstacles
Decide
Reflect
Act

Formation of a Christian Conscience

• Personal & ecclesial PRAYER LIFE.
• Studying the WORD of GOD & the
Teachings of the Church (Seek the
moral guidance of the Church)
• Responsiveness to the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit.
• Examination of one’s conscience.
Critical Reflection on our concrete moral
choices & experiences in daily life.

In the formation of their consciences, the
Christian faithful ought carefully to attend to
the sacred and certain doctrine of the
Church.(35) For the Church is, by the will of
Christ, the teacher of the truth. It is her duty
to give utterance to, and authoritatively to
teach, that truth which is Christ Himself, and
also to declare and confirm by her authority
those principles of the moral order which
have their origins in human nature itself.
Dignitates Humanae #14

THE COMPULSORY NATURE
OF CONSCIENCE

In so far as
conscience
operates within
the realm of truth
and sound
reason, following
it is compulsory.
It is infallible, it
should be
followed.

It is truly the
voice of God
when it impels us
to act according
to our rational
insights

When error creeps in, one has the
responsibility to trace the roots of error
and eradicate it.

Human beings have the right to freedom
of conscience; human dignity demands
that the human being acts to a knowing
and free choice.

Vatican II declares
that man is not to be
forced to act in a
manner contrary to
his conscience nor is
he to be restrained
from acting in
accordance with his
conscience.

Man ought to be fully
free in his moral
decisions, gearing
towards authentic self-
realization and self-
donation in love...a
response of love to a
call of love.

If the dictates of
his conscience is in
conflict with rights
of others or the
common welfare,
he must re-
examine his
conscience and
suspect that it can
be erroneous and
needs revision.

Some Current
Issues Related
to Conscience

Conflict between the Church's teaching
(Magisterium) with one's conscience
(conscience of the faithful).

The faithful The Magisterium
asserting to performing its role
follow one’s and duty to teach
conscience with authority the
(primacy princples of the
/compulsory moral order in line
nature of with the Christian
conscience faith.

THE RH BILL

a high 69% of
respondents
agree and
support the
RH Bill.
(Pulse Asia
Survey Oct
2010)

IN A survey conducted by
the Ateneo Statistics Circle
for The GUIDON last June,
several Ateneans
expressed support for the
controversial Reproductive
Health bill.
142 out of 172 respondents
from the sophomore, junior,
and senior batches are in
favor of the bill, citing its
provisions for greater
access to reproductive
health information and
services.

The Catholic Church says no to RH Bill

Conscience? The Magisterium.

Primacy of
Conscience?

Primacy of
conscience does
not mean that it is
the final arbiter of
what is morally
right.

Conscience is our
judgement using
ethical reason
based on the law
of God.



Conscience is one's best judgment, in a
given situation, on what here and now is to
be done as good, or to be avoided as evil.

Presumption: conscience is formed and
informed.



Dissent comes not because one does not
agree with the teaching or does not like what
the Church wants to be done.

Decision comes with one’s careful study of
the teachings and an honest discernment.



Challenge for the faithful: form and inform
one’s conscience.

For the church authorities: teach in the spirit
of co-responsibility & reciprocity, not through
coercive exercise of power.

“Everyone has the right to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion;
this right includes freedom to
change his religion or belief and
freedom, either alone or in
community with others in public or
private to manifest his religion or
belief in teaching, practice, worship
and observance.” Article 18 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR)

Freedom of religion or belief means having the
freedom to worship, observe, practice and
teach, alone or with other people.

Freedom of conscience protects the freedom of
individuals with a diversity of beliefs and is
essential to peaceful coexistence.

Freedom of conscience ensures that individual’s
protection in law and pursuit of activities,
careers, and economic ventures that they desire.

Protections for rights of conscience relate to
employers and employees.

Conscience Issues Related to the RH Bill
Section 7
“all accredited health facilities shall provide a full range
of modern family planning methods”; health care
workers are required to refer patients for services.”

Employers are required to provide in their CBAs
reproductive health services of their employees.

Freedom of conscience doesn’t only mean having
the ability to opt out of the action itself, but also
the freedom to opt out of any action, direct or
indirect, that would promote, encourage or give
the appearance of encouraging that action.

Conscience Issue Related to the RH Bill

Section 7
“all accredited health facilities shall provide a full range
of modern family planning methods”; health care
workers are required to refer patients for services.”

Employers are required to provide in their CBAs
reproductive health services of their employees.

Adequate protection of conscience rights to health
institutions, individuals, or community health
workers is not provided.

Freedom of Conscience in Profession

pharmacists with religious objections refusing
to fill prescriptions for any drug, including
abortifacient contraceptives and the so-called
"morning after“

New York City hospitals now require abortion
training for all their OB/GYN resident doctors
unless they invoke a narrowly written
conscience clause.

A nurse was threatened with firing after she
refused to follow a doctor's verbal order to
increase an intravenous morphine drip "until
he stops breathing" on a patient who
continued to survive despite having a
ventilator removed.

Three California nurses were suspended after
they reported a doctor who later admitted
giving a lethal injection to a child.

A dedicated nurse who cared for elderly nuns in a
Catholic facility for over a decade was told she
could resign when she objected to the slow
starvation and dehydration deaths of two of her
beloved nuns.

Conscience Clauses in US Laws
clauses that sought to protect health-care workers
who refused to participate in certain health-care
practices such as the provision of contraception,
sterilization or abortion, claiming that participation
in these services violated their consciences.

Refusal clause
banned state and local governments from
discriminating against health-care entities that
refuse to provide abortion training, perform
abortions or even provide referrals for abortions or
abortion training.

Objection to the
clause
By refusing to even
provide a referral, the
act becomes an
infringement on the
conscience of the
patient by denying her
the means to obtain
an abortion in a safe,
convenient and timely
manner.
Conscience meets conscience

Prisoners of
Conscience

people who have been jailed because of their
political, religious or other conscientiously-held
beliefs, ethnic origin, sex, color, language,
national or social origin, economic status, birth,
sexual orientation or other status.

In the
Philippines

Under Arroyo Under Aquino
Administration Administration
Political Prisoners 365 13

In June of 1963, Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức
burned himself to death at a busy intersection in Saigon. The self-
immolation was done in response to the persecution of Buddhists by
South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem administration. The Catholic regime had
cracked down on practicing Buddhists by banning the flying of the
traditional Buddhist flag; prohibiting Buddhists from exercising the same
religious freedoms as Catholics; and the continued detainment of Buddhist
monks and nuns — a moment referred to the Buddhist Crisis

Conscience

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