Conscience - Aquinas and Butler
- Created by: etaylor0206
- Created on: 15-06-15 19:25
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- No hebrew word for conscience
- It does not come up in the gospels
- Closest word in Bible may be heart.
- The word Synderesis is used in Wisdom to describe human ability to know and choose the good.
- Early Church: Augustine says that everyone has a conscience but it is the grace of God that directs it. He is interested in motive as well as the action - they must be of good conscience
- Aquinas uses synderesis to describe how all people seek to do good and avoid evil (arguably very optimistic view).
- People seek good but it may not actually be good and Aq acknowledged this. They are apparent goods.
- Everyone seeks the good and to sin is just falling short of God's ideals and pursuing apparent goods.
- Stressed importance of reason to work out difference between good and evil. (conscientia)
- We must have synderesis which is the right disposition and conscientia which is the right reason which…
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