Chapter 5:
Conscience Formation
“Conscience is sacred, the most
secret core and sanctuary of a
person where we are alone
with God”
p. 138
Conscience

Conscience is a practical
judgment of reason that helps a
person decide the goodness or
sinfulness of an action or
attitude. It is the subjective
norm of morality that we must
form properly and then follow.
Conscience is NOT…


Majority Opinion: Everyone is doing it
 Surrenders personal responsibility to
group
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by
majority rule is a person’s conscience.”
- Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird
Conscience is NOT…

A Feeling: If it feels good, do it
 Holds that individuals are
creators of their own moral rules
and only accountable to
themselves
 Problem is… feelings may be out
of touch with reality
Conscience is NOT…

Superego: leftover rules of childhood
(“shoulds” and “have-tos”) we carry around
in our subconscious (Freud)
 Rules we follow because we want approval,
but not because we saw or understood
value.
 Christian conscience is personal, selfchosen response to God and His invitation
to love
Conscience is NOT…

Gut instinct: Acting on your hunch
 Can be helpful start, but decisionmaking process also needs to
involve intellect and judgment
Conscience is NOT…

“Jiminy Cricket”: voice whispering
in your ear
 Not a separate voice in inside us
Conscience is NOT…

Myth: false concept invented by
religion to control people
 Death of conscience leads to
death of morality
Conscience IS…

Awareness of God’s call to be
 Secret, personal place at core of
being where we are alone with
God
Conscience IS…

Awareness of God’s call to know
and to do the good, that is, to love
 Basic awareness of good and evil
Conscience IS…

Practical judgment of the intellect
 Judges moral goodness or evil of
concrete actions we are about to
perform, are performing or have
performed
 It works before, during and after
we act
How Conscience Works

Most of our daily decisions are
implicit:
 Made from rote or habit
 Require little thought
 Result from values and attitudes,
virtues and vices
Theory of Moral Development
See Kohlberg handout for stages/
How Have I Changed over the Years?

Heinz Dilemna
A woman was near death from a unique kind of
cancer. There is a drug that might save her. The
drug costs $4,000 per dosage. The sick woman's
husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow
the money and tried every legal means, but he could
only get together about $2,000. He asked the doctor
scientist who discovered the drug for a discount or to
let him pay later, but the scientist refused.

Should Heinz break into the laboratory to steal the
drug for his wife? Why or why not?
Stage 1:
Obedience and Punishment

People in this stage obey rules
to avoid punishment. A good or
bad action is determined by its
physical consequences.
Possible Stage 1 responses to
Heinz Dilemma:


Heinz should not steal the drug because
he might be caught and sent to jail.
Heinz should steal the drug because if
he doesn't then his wife might scold
him.
Stage 2: Selfishness

In this stage, personal needs
determine right or wrong.
Possible Stage 2 responses
to Heinz Dilemma:


It is right for Heinz to steal the drug
because it can cure his wife and then
she can cook for him.
It’s wrong to steal the drug because
going to jail would not be fun for Heinz.
Stage 3: “Good boy/girl”

To a person in this stage, good
means “nice”. Behavior is
determined by what pleases
and is approved by others.
Possible Stage 3 responses to
Heinz Dilemma:


Yes, Heinz should steal the drug. He
probably will go to jail for a short
time for stealing but his in-laws will
think he is a good husband.
No…
Stage 4: Law and Order

When deciding the punishment
for a given wrongdoing, laws
are absolute. In all cases,
authority must be respected
and the social order maintained.
Possible Stage 4 responses to
Heinz Dilemma:

As her husband, Heinz has a duty to
save his wife's life so he should steal
the drug. But it's wrong to steal, so
Heinz should be prepared to accept the
penalty for breaking the law.
Stage 5: Social Contract

Good is determined by socially
agreed upon standards of individual
rights (i.e.: the U.S. Constitution).
People operating in this moral
stage believe that different
societies have different views of
right and wrong.
Possible Stage 5 responses to
Heinz Dilemma:

Heinz should steal the drug because everyone
has the right to life regardless of the law
against stealing. Should Heinz be caught and
prosecuted for stealing then the law (against
stealing) needs to be reinterpreted because a
person's life is at stake.
Stage 6: Principled Conscience

What is “good” and “right” are
matters of individual conscience and
involve abstract concepts of justice,
human dignity, and equality. People
in this stage believe there are
universal points of view on which all
societies should agree.
Possible Stage 6 responses to
Heinz Dilemma:

Heinz should steal the drug to save his
wife because preserving human life is a
higher moral obligation than preserving
property.
Applying Kohlberg


Use Kohlberg’s phases to decide what
someone would decide about cheating
on a test.
How could these phases be helpful in
making moral decisions and becoming
more self-aware as we grow and
mature?
How Conscience Works



More important decisions usually
made with explicit, deliberate
reference to our conscience
Conscience is the subjective norm
of morality, however, it can still
judge the objective truth
Review: Discernment/STOP
SEER


Seer: person in tune with truth,
prophet
Christians called to be seers and
live out 2 important principles:
1) Must always form and keep
informing your conscience
2) Must follow your conscience
SEER

S: Study
Conscience is primarily judgment of
intellect
 Concerned with discovering objective
truth
 Involves research, deliberation, and
seeking advice of trusted mentors
 Time for self-reflection of motives
and past actions/experiences

SEER

E: Elect
Prayer
 Listening to God through intellect,
imaginations, memories and emotions
 Ask for fortitude: have courage to do
what conscience tells us is right

SEER

E: Execute
Putting into action what you have
decided is right course of action for
right now
 Involves responsibility: must do what
conscience tells you is right
 Be an actor, not reactor
 Hardest part!

SEER

R: Review
Evaluate and reflect on actions
performed
 Examination of conscience

Examination of Conscience



Do I put God first in my life or do I
place other things before Him?
Do I work to make positive changes
and become a better person or keep
repeating the same mistakes?
Do I care about others and put their
needs before my own or do I focus
solely on my own wants and needs?
FAQ on Conscience
Must I always follow my
conscience?



Yes: going against conscience is
ignoring voice of God
Not following conscience is sin
because it separates us from God
The judgment of conscience
requires us to do the good we have
recognized
Can my conscience
ever be wrong?
Yes: conscience can make
mistakes
 Formation of conscience is
lifelong task
 Following in good faith, even if
mistaken, is not sin

What makes conscience
wrong?
Ignorance
 Insincerity: “This is way I am”,
little or no effort to find good or
truth
 Bad habit of choosing wrong,
making evil easy to do.

How can I guard against a
wrong conscience?

Guard against it by
understanding difference in “I
must always follow conscience”
vs. “I can do whatever I want.”
Peer Pressure and
Conscience



“Conformity is jailer of freedom and
enemy of growth” JFK
Doing what is right takes fortitude:
keeps us from fear of non-action and
acting rashly out of false sense of
bravery
In a sense we are a kind of martyr,
meaning witness, when we stand up to
evil or injustice.