chapter five
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CHAPTER FIVE. Conscience Formation. With and Without Conscience. Conscience. 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). - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
With and Without Conscience
Conscience
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)
What Conscience Is Not:Conscience as majority opinion.
Conscience as a feeling.
Conscience as a superego.
Conscience as gut-instinct.
Conscience as “Jiminy Cricket.”
Conscience as myth.
Definition of Conscience
What Conscience Is:
1. Conscience is awareness of God’s call to be.
2. Conscience is awareness of God’s call to know and do the good, that is, to love.
3. Conscience is a practical judgment of the intellect.
Definition of Conscience
How Conscience Works
virtue
A good habit that empowers us to do good
with ease
vice
A bad habit, that inclines us to choose the
evil rather than the good
Study, Elect, Execute, Review:
How Conscience Works
Elect a course of action
Review the decision
Study the facts
Execute the action
SEER – a person in
tune with truth, a prophet
Study, Elect, Execute, Review
You must always form and keep informing your conscience.
You must follow your conscience.
How Conscience Works
Study, Elect, Execute, Review
1. Study
Gather information about the moral object, the motives, and the circumstances involved in particular decisions.
Review the fundamental principles of morality and consider how best to apply essential moral rules.
How Conscience Works
Study, Elect, Execute, Review
2. Elect
Decision should be based on whether the proposed action is consistent with who you are as God’s creation made in his image.
An essential part of making this decision is to pray.
How Conscience Works
Study, Elect, Execute, Review
3. Execute
This involves responsibility.
You must do what your conscience tells you is right or you sin.
Be an actor, not a reactor. Take control of your own actions and own them.
How Conscience Works
Study, Elect, Execute, Review
4. Review Evaluate and reflect on the actions already
performed.
If we have taken the steps to form a good conscience, then our conscience will be clear.
If we have gone against what we know we should have done and sinned, then our conscience can help us repent and reform.
How Conscience Works
Peer Pressure and Conscience
fortitude “The moral virtue that ensures firmness in
difficulties, and constancy in the
pursuit of the good” (CCC1808).
Peer Pressure and Conscience
martyr
A witness ready to suffer and even die for truth and virtue;
martyrdom is the ultimate act of
fortitude.
Fortitude
How to resist negative peer pressure:
Resolve to be your own person.
Know your own standards.
Use humor and grace to say “no.”
Stay away from situations that might tempt you.
Peer Pressure and Conscience