What is Conscience?

[joe1776]

Consider the following situation: one child comes to you crying because their leg is broken and at the same time another child comes to you and says they have dropped their ice cream cone. If you ignore the second child in order to respond to the first your conscience is likely to be appeased by the consideration of the relative importance between the two children's needs.

This is a rational decision that was made based on an evaluation of "values" (feeling function) rather than a logical conclusion based on the definitions of words (thinking function).

I didn't see this post before writing my response which coincidentally covers the moral dilemma situation such as the one you write about here.

 

[leibowde84]

My question was: What made them realize that if not conscience? How did the people in the rest of the world realize that slavery was immoral?

If you are asking for specifics, I'm not a mind-reader, nor a time traveler, so I can't provide specifics. But, specifics aren't necessary. You just have to look at what shapes our conscience today. Just look at homosexuality. My Dad, for example, changed his mind because of experience in that he learned more about homosexuality, met gay people who he got along with, looked at some of the science behind sexual orientation, etc. His experiences led to his beliefs regarding the morality of homosexuality changing (a.k.a., his conscience was changed due to his experiences).

If it wasn't the experience of a nagging conscience, then what experience are you talking about that changed people's minds on the slavery issue?

Maybe there were more interactions between black and white people, maybe the brutality against slaves in the South becoming known caused some people's ideas about slavery to change ... it could have been many, many things. But, what we do know is that our conscience is ourselves ... our subconscious. It is shaped by our experience (what we learn, who we care about, our friends/family, etc.).

Here's a link to 100 Bible quotes on slavery.
What Does the Bible Say About Slavery?

In 1866, a year after America's civil war, Pope PIus IX declared that slavery was okay. According to scripture, he was right.

Only according to the New Testament. And, I'm not defending the Bible, but if you talk to most Christians, they don't pay much mind to the Old Testament. So, it wouldn't make much sense to claim that their scripture OK'd slavery (even though, technically speaking, you are correct).

 

[joe1776]

Only according to the New Testament. And, I'm not defending the Bible, but if you talk to most Christians, they don't pay much mind to the Old Testament. So, it wouldn't make much sense to claim that their scripture OK'd slavery (even though, technically speaking, you are correct).

I'm not a student on the topic but I think you're mistaken. The New Testament supports slavery as well. Here's an essay on the topic:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/sla_bibl2.htm

 

[leibowde84]

I'm not a student on the topic but I think you're mistaken. The New Testament supports slavery as well. Here's an essay on the topic:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/sla_bibl2.htm

There isn't anything in that article from the New Testament that condones slavery that I see. It is mentioned and not attacked, but omission of forbidding it is not condoning it.

But, if you have some examples of New Testament quotes that condone slavery, I would love to see them. It is certainly possible.

But, I'm not sure that it being condoned in the Bible contradicts my point at all. If you think it does, please explain.

 

[Willamena]

Is it something separate from us?
Is it part of us?
Is it both?
Does it exist at all?
What are we describing when we use the term conscience?

We all respond to that inner voice that tells us right from wrong, or left from right. It undoubtedly exists. Whether or not it is a part of us depends on how it is posed: objectively or subjectively.

 

[12jtartar]

Is it something separate from us?
Is it part of us?
Is it both?
Does it exist at all?
What are we describing when we use the term conscience?[/QUOTE

allfoak,
The conscience is called, The Superego. A birth we have just a rudimentary amount of conscience. The conscience is formed and molded by our parents. It is said that our conscience MUST be molded by the time we are 5 years old, or we may be in real trouble. The problem today is; most parents do not know the Holy Scriptures, so they cannot mold the conscience of their children, which leads to the troubled world we live in today, and worse tomorrow, Hebrews 5:11-14, 2Timothy 3:1-7, Luke 10:21.
If we want our children to grow up with a good conscience, we must follow the commands given to the Israelites, Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Notice that first, before you can teach your children properly, you must get these things into your own heart, then teach your children. Without God’s helpful direction we are lost, and so are our children, Jeremiah 10:23, Isaiah 48:17-19.

 

[sealchan]

Thank you for your explanation. I thought we were going to agree on how to define conscience but apparently not.

I think we feel the wrongness intuitively. I'm using a dictionary definition for intuition: direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.

In his research, Jon Haidt learned that the judgments of conscience were immediate and the explanations for them were post hoc and often not very good.

I first realized the same thing many years ago when I knew immediately that a situation was unfair yet I struggled to explain why.

My guess is that the reasoning function only gets its chance to make the final decision in a moral dilemma. Example: Only options A and B are open and both feel wrong. The process of weighing the consequences of both and selecting the one which causes the least harm is probably up to the brain's reasoning function. Confirming my suspicion, I read that two parts of the brain light up when subjects are considering moral dilemmas. Usually, it's just one.

I agree on your sense of intuition...that is an irrational conscious function like sensation which provides cognitions based on immediate perceptions. Intuition works with other functions. My intuition produces quick valuations of a situation...ir smells that something is wrong. But a strong feeling types can quickly bring up a rational supportive argument to explain that quick "feeling". Strong thinking types will struggle to do the same but may find the values piecing themselves together over time.