Fletcher's Concept of Conscience
Religious Studies: OCR A Level, topic 2.2.2
Fletcher's Situation Ethics - Conscience
Conscience is a verb rather than a noun. It is something you do when you make decisions, as Fletcher puts it, ‘creatively.’
The definition of conscience
- Conscience describes the weighing up of the possible decision before it is taken.
- For example, the process of weighing up whether to have an abortion or not.
- A hypothetical example: you are living in Nazi Germany during World War II. Do you inform the Gestapo that there are Jewish people hiding in your neighbours' loft, ultimately obeying the law but putting their lives in danger, or do you deny any knowledge to the Gestapo - you would weigh up the decision in your conscience.
Aquinas' definition of conscience
- Peter Vardy points out that Aquinas’s definition of conscience comes closest to the truth - but it is in no sense a separate faculty.
- Aquinas’ definition is that the conscience is ‘reason seeking understanding’.
What conscience is NOT
- Intuition.
- A channel for Divine Guidance.
- The internalised values of the individual’s culture.
- The part of reason that makes value judgements.
Test yourself on Fletcher's Concept of Conscience
What is conscience?
What is conscience NOT?