CONSCIENCE: THE SUBJECTIVE NORM OF MORALITY
THE NATURE AND DYNAMICS OF CONSCIENCE:
ITS DIMENSIONS, LEVELS AND DIVISIONS
Conscience:
- our capacity to discern what is morally good or evil, with the inner sense of
being obliged to do the good and avoid evil.
- Moral conscience, present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the
appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular
choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil. It
bears witness to the authority of truth in reference to the supreme Good to
which the human person is drawn, and it welcomes the commandments. When
he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.(CCC
1777)
- Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the
moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of
performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged
to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. (CCC 1778)
Church Teaching: Gaudium et Spes, 16
In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not
impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always
summoning him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when
necessary speaks to his heart: do this, shun that. For man has in his
heart a law written by God; to obey it is the very dignity of man;
according to it he will be judged. [Cf. Rom. 2:15-16.] Conscience is the
most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God,
Whose voice echoes in his depths. In a wonderful manner conscience
reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbor. [GS 16]
Dimensions of Conscience
1. Subjective : it is ours; we are ultimately responsible for what and how we
decide (we feel bound by our conscience which is deeply personal)
2. Objective: it goes beyond our individualistic and private notions; it calls us
out of ourselves into relation with others and before God. The exercise of
conscience will always affect other people (objective or social dimension)
Levels of Conscience
1. Fear Conscience: it operates on the instinctive level where persons, governed
primarily by fear act only on the basis of escaping punishment and of being
accepted and praised by authority. On this level, the person has no real sense
of intrinsic value; the sense of good and evil is based only on the avoidance of
punishment and the approval of authority.
2. Moral/Ethical Conscience: it operates on the basis of values, and not just on
what is “commanded” by some authority. The person recognizes the inner
good or evil of an act.
3. Christian- Religious Conscience: it operates on the basis of God’s love, who
calls us to full life in Christ through the Spirit for the service of others in
community. The Christian faith illumines, clarifies and deepens what we
perceive is truly worthy of being a person.
Division of Conscience
A. Antecedent Conscience: if the judgment on the morality of an action
and obligation to perform or omit it is passed before the action is translated
into reality (it commands, exhorts, permits, or forbids)
B. Consequent Conscience: if it evaluates a deed already done or omitted (it
approves, excuses, reproves or accuses)
A. Right Conscience: if the practical moral judgment agrees with the
objective norms of morality.
B. Erroneous Conscience: if the practical moral judgment does not
agree with the objective norms of morality.
B.1. Invincible Erroneous Conscience: it is inculpable since the person
has no awareness of the possibility of error.
B.2. Vincible Erroneous Conscience: it is culpable because with some
good will its error could be corrected. (This conscience cannot be followed
as a legitimate rule of action)
B.3. Lax Conscience: is inclined, on insufficient grounds, to judge a
thing to be lawful which is sinful, or something to be a venial sin, which is
actually a grave sin. (A person who has this conscience has the obligation
to reform his state of mind)
B.4. Scrupulous Conscience: the persistent, unreasonable fear that one
has offended God or is about to do so. The scrupulous conscience is in
constant dread of sin where there is none, or of mortal sin where there is
only venial sin. (A person with scrupulous conscience needs psychiatric
help)
B. 5. Perplexed Conscience: a type of erroneous conscience, which
confronted with two alternative precepts, fears sin in whatever choice it
makes. (If the decision can be delayed, one must first postpone the action
in order to obtain information and deliberate on it. But if the decision
cannot be postponed, one must choose what appears to be the lesser evil
or-if this is impossible to settle- either of the alternatives.
A. Certain Conscience: it passes judgment without fear of error. (This conscience
must always be obeyed when it command or forbids.)
B. Doubtful Conscience: it is uncertain concerning the morality of an action; it
suspends judgment or it passes judgment but with reasonable fear of erring. (In a
practical doubt about the lawfulness of an action, one may never act. The action
must be postponed until certainty can be reached. If there is no time or possibility
to solve the doubt, one must opt for the safer alternative, that which excludes the
danger of sin and injustice.)
Formation and Information of Conscience
1) Have a pure intention
2) Consult the Sacred Scriptures and the Teachings of the Church
3) Ask the question: “How does this action of mine measure up to the
yardstick of love?”
4) Consult the people of God wherein Christ and His Spirit reside.
5) Follow the current debate on the great moral issues.
6) Pray for God’s graceful guidance in all your actions.
7) Be sorrowful for your sinfulness confessing them fully and humbly, asking
for the help of God.
8) To judge the good or evil of an act, our conscience must decide on the ff:
A. object of the act: the meaning of the act-answers the question “what?”
B. intention- answers the question “why?”
C. circumstances- makes an indifferent act good or evil; it aggravates or lessens
the sinfulness of the act- answers the questions “who, where,when, how?”
9. Follow “my” conscience