Kelly Minear

A Morally Effective Conscience

Each day, everyone makes a countless number of decisions. These range from fast,

simple decisions that require little thought, to ones that require some ethical thought and

sometimes the consultation of others. How does one make such difficult decisions? What aspects

come into play when one is choosing one situation over another? One component that aids in the

decision-making process is a conscience. Everyone has heard of a conscience; it is portrayed in

television shows, movies, and books all the time. Many people are familiar with the classic

representation of the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. Some picture their

conscience as a booming voice in the back of their head, a small voice whispering the right

choice, or the subconscious voice of the lessons taught by ones parents. Regardless of the image

of a conscience, everyone has one. A conscience is an internal moral guide that is oriented to

ones moral standards of right and wrong. This guide aids in decision-making and situations of

moral question.1 While each individuals conscience varies depending on their individual values

and virtues, there are components that make up a good conscience. One important aspect to

remember is that our conscience is important to have, but also important to update. While one is

not accountable for following a mistaken conscience, it is important to develop and follow our

conscience, as everyone is responsible for developing his or her conscience. By looking at

various theological sources in this paper, a list of characteristics of an ethical conscience can be

made. A truly ethical conscience will follow the theological and cardinal virtues as a guide, seek

1
Sidney Callahan, In Good Conscience (New York: Harper Collins, 1991), page 15.
aid of the Holy Spirit in time of need, include a balance of reason and emotion, and include some

moral growth and development in order to make the most ethical decisions.

Before digging into what makes an ethical conscience, one must first learn specifics of

the conscience. When anyone makes a decision, they use their conscience, which is a self-

conscious tool that is used to help make this decision. It is kind of like consulting an internal

book of how to act. This book also uses past experiences and gained knowledge to help to make

the decision.2 One also takes into account their moral values and standards of right and good. All

angles of the situation are also analyzed, which can include custom, social conventions, science,

etiquette, and other similar angles.3 As mentioned earlier, the cardinal and theological virtues

play a big role in the formation of ones conscience. Each persons conscience is oriented to their

individual moral values and standards of what is right and what is good4. A conscience cannot be

detached from ones morals, and this is why it is important to understand virtues, morals, and

how they shape an individuals life. The four cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, temperance,

and fortitude; the theological virtues are faith, hope, and love. Each virtue helps to shape ones

conscience; however, some may be developed more than others depending on the person.

Additionally, other virtues not included in these lists may also be important in the development

of ones conscience. One example of a virtue that may be more developed than others is the

virtue of prudence, or wisdom. This virtue is crucial to aiding in making ethical choices. St.

Thomas Aquinas stresses the importance of having this virtue when making decisions. In Robert

Smiths book, Smith describes Aquinas thoughts on the importance of having prudence,

Prudence is absolutely necessary in directing the deliberation, decision, and execution of those

2
Sidney Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 14.
3
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 16.
4
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 17.
(good) means to a particular endWere it not for the deliberative, deciding and commanding

functions of prudence, nothing could be accomplished since every human act is dependent upon

prudence and its allies to bring about a concrete action here and now.5 Prudence is involved in

every stage of making decisions. One must have prudence to evaluate a situation, come up with

logical solutions, choose which solution is right, and he or she must then have the prudence to

act upon that decision. This makes sense because the right thing to do may not always be easy.

Many people have been in a tough situation where they know the right thing to do, but following

through with that action is very difficult for many people to do, which requires the need for

prudence.6 While it may seem like each persons conscience plays a role only in deciding on an

ethical choice, the conscience is also involved in the next step of actually acting on the correct

moral decision.7 It is much easier to walk through the ethical steps to make a moral decision than

it is to act upon the choice made based on the ethical steps. Because of this, the virtues play an

important role in the formation of ones conscience.

Not only is prudence needed to have an ethical conscience, but Aquinas talks about the

importance of seeking the Holy Spirit when making a decision. It is important to remember the

theological virtues because they help each individual person strive for both the good as well as a

close relationship with God.8 Because the theological virtues come from God, and when a person

follows the theological virtues, they are able to live a live oriented with love and the good.9

Keenan also stresses the importance of growing in the virtues in order to grow in conscience.

Ones virtues are directly connected to his or her conscience, and the formation of one helps to

5
Robert J. Smith, Conscience and Catholicism (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998), page 25-26.
6
Smith, Conscience and Catholicism, page 29.
7
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 23.
8
Smith, Conscience and Catholicism, page 32.
9
Smith, Conscience and Catholicism, page 33
form the other. He says, Mentored practices of justice, temperance, fortitude, fidelity, and self-

care through the ministration of consciences own prudence allow us to learn more and more

about how we are to respond to God, neighbor, and ourselves in love. Virtuous practices become

the exercises for the formation of the conscience.10 Theological virtues come from God, and

when used with ones conscience, they ensure that each decision is made with God and the good

in mind.

Another aspect that further individualizes ones conscience along with their stronger

virtues is emotions and reasoning. Reasoning is important because one needs to analyze various

facts and points that are necessary to consider when making a choice. This is related to a

conscience because the word conscience actually means with knowledge, suggesting that

making a decision using ones conscience requires more than simply making a gut decision

based on emotions.11 When anyone makes a decision, there are a few steps that occur:

deliberation, hesitation, engagement, and choice.12 During these steps, one imagines out different

solutions, compares the arguments of each to determine which choice is more ethical than the

other. The process of reasoning while making a decision allows for a very active conscience, and

looks at various strategies and scenarios before finalizing a decision.13 This helps to ensure that

decision remains logical and rational.

Akin to needing reason to make a decision using ones conscience is emotion. Callahan

stresses the importance of not only reason, but emotion as well. This is important when

developing ones conscience because emotion makes the person care about what they must do in

10
Keenan, James. Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
Littlefield Publishing Group, 2010, p. 33.
11
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 17.
12
Ibid, page 20.
13
Ibid, page 127.
order to change. A good example of needing emotion can be seen in the earlier example of Rosa

Parks, Thomas More, and Martin Luther king Jr. None of these people would have acted the way

they did if they did not care about their causes which they were helping. Thus emotion is also

important as well as reason when using ones conscience to make a decision. The two must be

balanced so one does not outweigh the other. In Callahans book, he eventually defines

conscience as making of moral decisions in which we self-consciously commit ourselves by

integrating emotional self-investment with our reasoning on behalf of the good and the right.14

In his definition, he specifies the importance of having a conscience that includes a balance of

reason and emotion. Too much emotion would result in an irrational decision, and too much

reason could lead to not acting upon the decision because the decision-maker does not care

enough about the choice. These decisions are important because each choice we make, whether

large or small, influence other choices we make, both large and small. This is important because

if one makes lots of small unethical decisions, he or she will most likely make a similar mistake

for the larger decision. This idea is called circularity, where one choice influences another.

Callahan says, Who we think we are and who or what we aspire to be will influence our moral

actions in the world; our moral self-judgment of these acts, and their effects, will in turn

influence who we want to be.15 Emotions and reasoning go hand in hand, and their cycle of

influencing each other goes on and on. Everyday choices are shaped by past emotions, past

decisions, and past thoughts regarding similar choices. The conscience is shaped partly by reason

and emotion, allowing one to make ethical decisions that will further shape his or character.

14
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 115.
15
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 119-120.
 While each person has a conscience, the conscience must be constantly in formation and

growth. In James Keenans book Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition,

his chapter on conscience places a strong emphasis on the importance of the formation and

growth of conscience. He compares conscience and superego. Superego is the inner voice,

sometimes the voice of ones parents that comes up and makes one question his or her decision

because of a past experience. The voice comes up and the moral explanation to the problem

comes up, but not the threat that needs to be addressed.16 One big difference he finds is that

while ones superego remains the same, calling us to avoid guilt, the conscience calls us to

grow.17 Conscienceis suspicious of conformity, particularly when injustice is at stakeit

prompts us often to reach out to the one that the more conformist society rejects. Moral progress,

therefore, always occurs when people heed their consciences, take steps of their own, and move

forward, even at the risk of isolation and loss.18 When thinking about ones conscience, growth

must occur not only because the conscience must be shaped and formed, but also because

conscience can cause growth. Keenan cited various situations where people made a decision that

moved history forward. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas More, and others had to

make an ethical choice between right and wrong, and conforming or making a change.19 If no

one had a conscience, life would be very different, and people would be more likely to remain

the same and never choose to move forward. While growing and forming ones conscience is

important, this formation is not a short process. Developing ones conscience is not like taking a

class to gain some knowledge; rather, it is a lifelong journey that requires constant updates,

16
Keenan, Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition, page 32.
17
Ibid, page 32
18
Ibid, page 34.
19
Ibid, page 34-35.
changes, and additions to moral rules and principles.20 A conscience cannot work properly

without growth, and this growth must be sustained over an entire lifetime.

After determining that the elements of a good conscience include consultation of the

theological and classic virtues, a balance of emotion and reason, and growth, one common

question asked is what happens when the conscience is mistaken? Many decisions in life are not

simple, and may be difficult to choose the morally just decision over the easy choice. Sometimes

when the conscience is too conflicted, this causes the person to resort to quick decisions. In this

case, one should seek the help of others before giving in to impulse decisions.21 Occasionally, a

persons conscience can become misinformed or may need updates if not cared for in a long

time. This may lead the person to follow a misinformed conscience. Fortunately, humans in

general seek what is good. If a person were to make a poor decision based on a misaligned

conscience, they are not at fault as long as their intentions were sincere. While this is true, people

are responsible for any information they could have known, so they must be careful to keep their

conscience up to date.22 This situation is different than knowing the right thing to do but

choosing not to act upon that decision due to internal division or weakness. It is common for

people to make a poor decision because of a misaligned conscience; fortunately, they are not at

fault as long as their intentions were good.

Earlier, elements of a good conscience were defined and described. In order to form a

good conscience, one must follow the classic and cardinal virtues, particularly the virtue of

prudence. In addition, one should follow the church teachings. This gives the person a good base

in their virtues as well as providing a solid base for ones conscience, because a virtuous person

20
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 172-173.
21
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 140.
22
Keenan, Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition, page 38-40.
makes for a morally sound person. A conscience should also have a good balance of reason and

emotion in order to make a virtuous decision. Finally, the conscience requires growth, and must

be constantly formed and shaped. Contrary to the superego that was described, each persons

conscience should be continually molded and shaped over time due to growing virtues and

choices that can shape our bigger choices over time. A person with a well-developed moral

conscience will exhibit these traits along with the ability to make their own free choices, easily

linked to their values, and truly committed to the good and the right. Callahan describes this

morally developed conscience, Can readily and easily activate and integrate her or his

reasoning, intuition, imagination, and emotions, in order to effect good and right outcomes.23

These components put together make an ethical conscience.

Now that the pieces of an ethical conscience have been listed and described, one must

now figure out how to apply these ideas in order to make an ethical conscience that is ready for

the whirlwind of decisions that occur each and every day. Before making a tough ethical choice,

one way to get into a mindset that is prepared to make a decision, it helps to have a moral

reminder to prime the conscience. A study done by David Welsh and Tina Ordonez showed

the benefits of priming the conscience. This can simply be done by placing a moral reminder,

such as a card with the Ten Commandments or some other similar reminder so that ones moral

standards may be increased, making them more prepared to make an ethical decision.24 Next, one

needs to decide whether a decision requires a quick, impulse decision based on right and wrong

or whether the choice requires a more in depth examination of conscience. Welsh and Ordonez

describe the two types of conscious that relate to this situation. One system makes quick,

23
Callahan, In Good Conscience, page 171-172.
24
David Welsh and Lisa Ordonez. Conscience without Cognition: The Effects of Subconscious Priming on Ethical
Behavior. Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 3 (June 2014), page 275.
subconscious, reflexive decisions, and the other requires a conscious, deliberate, and rational

decision. The subconscious decision occurs in situations that are familiar, while newer scenarios

go to the conscious system where further examination occurs.25 When this examination is

needed, it is best to have a conversation with others to determine the right decision. While ones

conscience makes a good moral guide, because it is constantly being shaped and can be

mistaken, one should not instinctively go with his or her gut feeling because the conscience is

not correct at all times.26 When examining this decision, one must consider the virtues, especially

prudence, and be careful to use a balance of reason and emotion. When possible, taking this

process slow and carefully will ensure that the most ethical decision will be made.

25
Welsh and Ordonez, Conscience without Cognition page 275.
26
Richard Kyte, An Ethical Life: A Practical Guide to Ethical Reasoning (Terrace Heights, MN: Anselm Academic,
2012), page 30.
 Bibliography

Banner, Michael. Christian Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Callahan, Sidney. In Good Conscience. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.

Conn, Walter E. Conscience: Development and Self-Transcendence. Birmingham, AL: Religious

Education Press, 1981.

Kyte, Richard. An Ethical Life: A Practical Guide to Ethical Reasoning. Terrace Heights, MN:
Anselm Academic, 2012.

McTavish, James. "Developing an Informed Conscience." National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly

11, no. 3 (September 2011): 433-441.

Smith, Robert J. Conscience and Catholicism. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998.

Welsh, David T., and Lisa D. Ordonez. Conscience without Cognition: The Effects of
Subconscious Priming on Ethical Behavior. Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 3
(June 2014): 723-742.