Conscience - the "self" in search of the good
Focus
Perceive the need to grow in self-awareness as moral persons called to serve
Define conscience and recognize the importance of forming and informing the conscience for moral decision making
Guiding Questions
What is the Christian notion of “person”?
What are the six aspects of the human person that are important for ethics? Can I explain them as they relate to my moral agency?
What is the role of conscience in my search for the good?
What does it mean to say, “a well-formed conscience is well informed”?
How can a conscience be malformed or misinformed? What are the symptoms of a misinformed conscience?
What do I need to consider when making a moral decision?
Key Terms
Commitment: a promise or a pledge; resolve to carry something out in the future
Habit: a manner of behaving acquired by frequent repetition; prevailing disposition or character (think back to Aristotle)
Humanism: a worldview centered on human interest and values, and the individual’s capacity for self-realization through reason and action. Humanists generally reject reference to the divine
Identity: the distinguishing character of a person. My identity is determined in large part by the moral stance I take in life
Judgment: the concrete decision of what I must do in the situation based on my personal perception and grasp of values
Moral stance: my moral orientation or direction in life; what I “stand for”
Narcissism: a disorder marked by self-absorption to the exclusion of others
Psychiatry: a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional and behavioural disorders
Psychology: the study of the mind, mental states and behaviour. Psychology tries to explain why people think, feel and behave as they do
Secularism: a worldview that rejects religion and religious consideration. Secularists accept only critical reason
Trinity: “the central mystery of the Christian faith and of Christian life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit”