Why Do Some People Have a More of a Conscience Than Others? Discuss

Why do some people have a more of a Conscience than others? Discuss

Conscience is the ‘knowledge within oneself’, ‘the faculty or principle which pronounces upon the moral quality of one’s actions or motives, approving the right and condemning the wrong’. There is various definitions of conscience and every philosophers has its own opinion of what conscience is.

Aquinas said ‘reason in man is rather like God in the world’, to disparage the dictate of reason is equivalent to condemning the command of God. God is our reason but we can’t see it or hear it so it’s like our conscience. So if we ignored our conscience its same as ignoring God. So some might have more or less of conscience depending on whether they believe in God, maybe people which do believe might have more conscience than the ones who don’t or the other way round. He didn’t think that conscience was an inner knowledge (not everyone has it) from right or wrong but rather it was a device for distinguishing right from wrong actions. He thought that the practical reason through reflection on human nature can determine primary moral principles so the primary precepts. Our conscience then derives secondary principles which are applied, as we practice balancing our needs against the needs of others we develop prudence. He meant that our conscience can make the wrong decision but it wouldn’t be our fault, he fought about conscience that it isn’t a ‘feeling’ in your heart but it’s the process of reasoning, moving from the primary precepts to secondary precepts, therefore some people have more conscience than others as they move from one precept to other slower.

Butler says that it’s our duty to follow the conscience because it allows us to act as a moral judge as it isn’t an intuitive feeling about right, it is an ability to use reason to weight up factors in our moral decisions therefore some people have more conscience than others as people won’t follow the duty or path of following their conscience. Also...