Critically assess the claim that consci
Critically assess the claim that conscience is a reliable guide to ethical decision making.
Conscience is something inside of us which distinguishes good from evil and makes us feel guilty when we have done something wrong. As defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English, is ‘A person’s moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one’s behaviour’. It plays a decisive role in any moral decision, and just like normative ethics, one can base their moral decisions on their conscience just as a utilitarian would base his moral decisions on the principle of utility – ‘greatest good for the greatest number’. However, on an assessment of whether the conscience is the most reliable guide for moral decision making is determined by one’s subjective view on what the conscience actually is, which has been tackled by many philosophers.
Freud (1856-1939), the founder of modern psychoanalysis, believed that the human psyche was inspired by powerful desires that begin at birth and need to be satisfied. These are critical to our behaviour up until the age of three and drive the id. For Freud there were two categories of desire at war within the id: ‘Eros' (the life instinct) and ‘Thanatos' (the death instinct). However, children quickly learn that the world puts restraints upon the degree to which these desires can be met. Humans therefore create the ‘ego', also known as the ‘reality principle', which takes into account the realities of society. The ego creates an awareness of self and others and is crucial to our interaction with the world. The ‘super-ego', which develops from the age of five, internalises and reflects the anger and disappointment of others. It produces feelings of guilt and creates a conscience. This guilty conscience grows into a life and power of its own and is un-reliant upon the rational thought and reflection of the individual. It is programmed into human beings by the negative reactions of other people, making it pre-rational and the
Conscience is something inside of us which distinguishes good from evil and makes us feel guilty when we have done something wrong. As defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English, is ‘A person’s moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one’s behaviour’. It plays a decisive role in any moral decision, and just like normative ethics, one can base their moral decisions on their conscience just as a utilitarian would base his moral decisions on the principle of utility – ‘greatest good for the greatest number’. However, on an assessment of whether the conscience is the most reliable guide for moral decision making is determined by one’s subjective view on what the conscience actually is, which has been tackled by many philosophers.
Freud (1856-1939), the founder of modern psychoanalysis, believed that the human psyche was inspired by powerful desires that begin at birth and need to be satisfied. These are critical to our behaviour up until the age of three and drive the id. For Freud there were two categories of desire at war within the id: ‘Eros' (the life instinct) and ‘Thanatos' (the death instinct). However, children quickly learn that the world puts restraints upon the degree to which these desires can be met. Humans therefore create the ‘ego', also known as the ‘reality principle', which takes into account the realities of society. The ego creates an awareness of self and others and is crucial to our interaction with the world. The ‘super-ego', which develops from the age of five, internalises and reflects the anger and disappointment of others. It produces feelings of guilt and creates a conscience. This guilty conscience grows into a life and power of its own and is un-reliant upon the rational thought and reflection of the individual. It is programmed into human beings by the negative reactions of other people, making it pre-rational and the