Conscience is fundamentally a faculty that allows an individual to distinguish between their own actions, motivations, intentions, and goals that are morally wrong versus those that are acceptable. It helps us understand what we should not do, rather than what we should do.
Understanding Conscience
The core principle of conscience revolves around the ability to:
- Identify moral wrongness: The primary function of conscience is to recognize actions, motives, intentions, and aims that are morally wrong. This is a process of discernment, where one evaluates one's own conduct against an internal sense of right and wrong.
- Identify what is permissible: Conscience also clarifies what is not morally wrong. It establishes a boundary around actions that are acceptable, although not necessarily laudable.
What Conscience Is Not
It's important to note that conscience does not:
- Identify moral admirability or praiseworthiness: Conscience does not function to tell us what is especially virtuous. It focuses on what is wrong, rather than what is exceptionally good. It's focused more on avoidance of moral wrongness.
Core Principle: Distinguishing Right from Wrong
The main principle of conscience is that it serves as an inner compass to discern what is morally unacceptable from what is merely permissible. It's an individual's inner guide on the negative aspects of morality.
Example of the Application of Conscience
- Dishonesty: Conscience would flag the act of lying or cheating as morally wrong.
- Harm: Conscience would signal that causing harm to another person is not morally acceptable.
- Disrespect: Conscience helps identify actions or intentions that are disrespectful and thereby, morally wrong.
In Summary
The moral principle of conscience is to distinguish between morally wrong acts, motives, intentions, and aims, and those that are permissible. It is primarily concerned with flagging what is not acceptable, rather than identifying the highest forms of moral virtue. Conscience is a tool for navigating what not to do.
