Maxcady10001 wrote:Georgeanna
Then how would you define conscience, if not feelings of right or wrong?
Spectrum
Exactly why can't the conscience that we experience simply be social anxiety? I reject your claim that a conscience triggers social anxiety. The emotional stimuli must come first, before consciously conceiving a "right" or "wrong" feeling. And, as the generally accepted definition of a conscience is a feeling of "right" or "wrong" , this feeling must be the result of some emotional stimuli, and there isn't a better one than social anxiety, I don't believe there is a conscience only social anxiety.
LuckyR
Sociopaths and psychopaths are the result of a "disfunctional" or "abnormal" brain. Hence, a lack of empathy and social anxiety. You may say sociopaths and psychopaths do suffer from social anxiety, but there is a difference in the frustration that comes from not understanding social interactions, and the plight of the socially anxious dreading the weight placed on these interactions.
Also, the quote I gave was the only time conscience as social anxiety was mentioned throughout the book.
Let's imagine the train carriage scenario in which you have a mix of passengers. Commuters, school children, families on holiday, day trippers, single people - all of different age, gender, nationality.
Each have their own conscience, at various stages of development.
Each have their own set of values; witness a family with unruly children, screaming with no concern for others v the well-behaved and polite. It can be seen as an opportunity for early training; parental authority as first base for suppression of instincts for the sake of social life.
The conscience can develop from this internalized authority voice to one's own. Self-knowledge and self-mastery results from both emotion and reason. A core set of personal standards, based on reflection, which can make a continuing claim on our mind and actions.
So, I would argue that conscience has both theoretical and practical components. We can act contrary to our conscience, perhaps in a life-threatening crisis situation where self-preservation is a higher priority. Some might even act without thinking, with total survival instinct.
Back to the train.
Each have their own feelings about the journey.
Some sit enjoying the experience of travel; others are more anxious - fearful of all that can go wrong. Preparing themselves for all eventualities - plan B, C, D.
Feelings can range from bored, disinterested to excited and engaged. All might have varying degrees of social anxiety.
Then, an aggressor enters the carriage. As social animals we might each have adapted ideas on how to cope.
Ignore, engage, report - depending on context.
Instinctual fear coexists with conscience. Specific and prompt action means that we don't have time to reason as in sofa ponderings. However, judgement tells us what we would like to have done - be a hero, stand up for your principles. And we might feel guilt at not having acted in accordance with our conscience.
For a more in-depth study of conscience see:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/conscience/
-- Updated November 17th, 2017, 12:04 pm to add the following --
Another interpretation of Conscience.
A humanist perspective:
If I talk about ‘what my conscience tells me to do,’ I’m referring to ‘what I think I ought to do, all things considered.’ What we call the ‘dictates of conscience’ come from our thinking, reasoning and deliberating. The notion of conscience provides a shorthand way of referring to moral beliefs. The ‘voice of conscience’ is something we have constructed for ourselves, taking into account personal experience, feelings, social teaching, scientific findings and relevant religious teachings. A humanist notion of conscience allows for its individuality by stressing the thought and deliberation that construct conclusions from these varied sources. For humanists there will be no inconsistency in using all of them, provided that none is presumed to provide the last, definitive word.
The voice of conscience is not divinely inspired, according to this account. It is no more transcendent than the everyday voice that reminds us to carry an umbrella or take out the garbage. And yet conscience dares to pronounce on matters of morality, often highly serious matters with profound implications. That voice comes from within our very human selves: it has been constructed by our own deliberation and reasoning. It should never be ignored, although it is human, fallible and utterly mundane.
http://humanistperspectives.org/issue15 ... ience.html