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One of the qualities of the human personality (properties of the human intellect), which ensures the preservation of homeostasis (the state of the environment and one's position in it) and is due to the ability of the intellect to model its future state and the behavior of other people in relation to the "bearer" of conscience. is one of the products of education. According to conscience - a category of ethics that characterizes the ability of a person to exercise moral self-control, independently formulate moral obligations for himself, demand their fulfillment from himself and make a self-assessment of the actions performed; one of the expressions of the moral self-consciousness of the individual (in many European languages the word "conscience" etymologically means "common knowledge"; in Russian it comes from the word "to know" - "to know"). association block. Due to the fact that conscience is a property of the individual, its "content and quality" essentially depend on the culture that a person possesses (both ethnic and individual).
Definitions, meanings of the word in other dictionaries:
Social Psychology. Dictionary under. ed. M.Yu. Kondratiev
Conscience - the ability of a person to exercise moral self-control, independently formulate moral duties for himself, demand from himself their fulfillment and evaluate the actions performed; one of the expressions of the moral self-consciousness of the individual. WITH....
A large dictionary of esoteric terms - edited by d.m.s. Stepanov A.M.
(Russian, joint message, generalized knowledge). 1. Feeling and consciousness of moral responsibility for one's behavior and actions to oneself, to other people, society, moral principles, views, beliefs. 2. In occultism, the manifestation of criteria in the individual ...
(joint knowledge, to know, to know): the ability of a person to realize his duty and responsibility to other people, to independently evaluate and control his behavior, to be a judge of his own thoughts and actions. “The work of conscience is the work of a man, which he leads ...
Philosophical Dictionary
The ability of a person to exercise moral self-control, to independently form moral duties for himself, to demand from himself their fulfillment and to make a self-assessment of the actions performed. S. can manifest itself not only in the form of a reasonable awareness of the moral ...
Philosophical Dictionary
(Greek syneidesis, lat. conscientia) - usually interpreted as a person's ability to distinguish between good and evil, as an inner voice that tells us about moral truth, about higher values, about our dignity. A person not only "has a conscience", but "he himself has a conscience" (S. Fagin)....
Philosophical Dictionary
An ethical category that expresses the ability of a person to exercise moral self-control, to determine from the position of good and evil the attitude towards one's own and other people's actions. makes its assessments, as it were, regardless of practical interests, however, in various manifestations, the conscience of a person ...
Philosophical Dictionary
A category of ethics expressing the ability of a person to exercise moral self-control, to determine from the standpoint of good and evil the attitude towards one's own and other people's actions, lines of behavior. S. makes his assessments, as it were, regardless of the practical. interest, but in reality in various ...
Philosophical Dictionary
concept moral consciousness, inner conviction of what is good and evil, consciousness of moral responsibility for one's behavior; expression of a person's ability to exercise moral self-control on the basis of the this society rules and regulations...
Often, when committing not quite worthy deeds, a person feels negative emotions inside. There is a certain discomfort, sometimes quite strong, which does not allow you to continue to calmly exist. This feeling is called conscience. This internal controller gnaws after negative actions, words or thoughts and brings satisfaction with the opposite behavior. Although almost everyone knows about its existence, few people can tell with certainty what conscience is, where it comes from and why it evokes certain emotions and sensations. This should be dealt with in order.
What is conscience: a popular definition
There are many interpretations of the nature of this phenomenon, explanations of what it is. A significant number of them are associated with various religious movements, where usually the specified term is understood as a certain feeling of guilt before higher powers(God) for breaking the commandments they gave. Often an explanation is given about the "light of truth" that prevents doing bad things. The popular definition that such a sense of conscience, not associated with religion, implies in this case certain personality traits. Everyone is mentally healthy and fully developed person develops an internal self-regulatory mechanism that helps to formulate standards of morality for the subsequent measurement of everything said and done, evaluation of words and deeds on their own scale of worthy / unworthy.
What is shame and conscience: inborn or acquired
Those who try to define this inner "cop" break spears mainly as to whether such a feeling is given a priori from birth or develops already in the course of growing up, based on the experiences of a person. social influences moral attitudes instilled in him, adopted in a particular family or society as such. While such a question remains open, due to the lack of evidence from both sides. They agree on one thing: conscience is an internal framework formed by the person himself based on the moral principles adopted by him. Violation of such boundaries causes discomfort of varying intensity, and preservation, especially in a situation of difficult moral choice, improves self-esteem. The personality realizes that it has retained its identity, has not allowed circumstances to trample it.
How to explain to a child what conscience is
Parents of a growing baby and teachers who have to deal with him in educational institutions face a similar need. Explanations should be given taking into account the degree of understanding of a particular crumb, its age characteristics. When communicating with preschoolers, it is worth using specifics, giving examples available to them. One of the options: conscience is when parents forbid taking off their hats in the cold, and the child realizes that disobeying elders is bad. Therefore, when he takes off his hat, thereby violating his mother's and father's ban, he knows very well that he is doing bad things, which is why his soul hurts. It is necessary to let the baby understand: this feeling is a helper, because it prevents you from misbehaving, and you need to listen to it.
What is "conscience gnaws"
Under this expression lies the very gamut of feelings that is provoked by an act that does not correspond to the moral principles of the person himself. Its manifestations are associated with a sharp decrease in self-esteem. This appears due to the realization of the betrayal of oneself, one's own inner convictions. Usually the strength of such mental anguish is proportional to the severity of the offense. The scatter is great - from light "tingling" to real fire, which brings pain, prevents you from fully living on, especially if there is no possibility of correcting what you have done. Many people who turned into traitors or committed other heinous acts, often because of the inability to endure internal torment, dared to commit suicide.
What is remorse: a turn in a constructive direction
It should not be assumed that the understanding of what a person's conscience is, and its very action, are destructive. Here much depends on the angle from which such moral problems are considered. Attempts to fight the manifestations of conscience, to drown it out by influencing the body with psychotropic compounds, alcoholic libations, give only a temporary illusion of calm. Misdemeanors do not go away - a person only briefly runs away from them, so that later, as he sobers up, he will feel a range of even more intensified negative emotions. It is undesirable to perceive this feeling as an enemy. A wise person will turn its manifestations to the benefit of self-development. It makes sense to use the tips of your spiritual moral regulator to prevent unwanted actions, to avoid behavior that can destroy life. Such an approach will bring personal happiness, career growth, due to the respect of others around.
Conscience
And so conscience - what is it? Let's see what Wiki thinks about it first:
Conscience - the ability of a person to independently formulate moral duties and implement moral self-control, demand from himself their fulfillment and evaluate his actions; one of the expressions of the moral self-consciousness of the individual. It manifests itself both in the form of a rational awareness of the moral significance of the actions taken, and in the form of emotional experiences - feelings of guilt or "remorse" [source not specified 1736 days], that is, it links together the mind and emotions.
To some extent, indeed, it is so.
But let's look at it deeper, removing all the developments and raids.
We all know that there is a certain core in a person, it is not in vain that they say that a person does not change, indeed, he is given one core for life, and does not change. But sometimes we hear one of our friends tell us that a mutual friend, what a great guy he is, he has changed (or maybe in ...
There were Darwinists who argued that conscience is an extra feeling that should be got rid of. It is interesting to cite the words of Hitler, who, as is known, was one of the thinkers of social Darwinism (the doctrine according to which laws natural selection and the struggle for existence, acting, according to Charles Darwin, in nature, extend to human society): "I free a person from a degrading chimera, which is called conscience." And further…
In other Greek. mythology S. gets fantastic. the image in the form of an image of the Erinyes, the goddesses of damnation, revenge and punishment, pursuing and punishing criminals, but acting as a benefactor (eumenides) in relation to the repentant. In ethics, the problem of personal S. was first posed by Socrates, who considered him the source of morality. judgments of a person, his self-knowledge (ancient Greek ....
There was one ancient wisdom among the people: "Conscience, although without teeth, can gnaw at the soul."
And it just so happened that people began to forget these words, like many other important things. Only now our ancestors knowingly composed proverbs about conscience. They knew, after all, that without her the Russian people would perish, and they would not be happy.
So, what proverbs about conscience and duty should every person know? Why does he need them? And what is conscience anyway?
What is conscience?
It so happened that each person has his own conscience. "Why is that?" - you ask. Because every person is built differently. Some are brought up in good families and taught goodness and order, while others - in evil ones. Therefore, growing up, people have a different idea of morality, respectively, and their conscience is different.
According to psychologists, conscience is the moral and ethical rules that determine the inner world of the individual. Violation of these unwritten laws leads to the fact that a person begins to experience ...
What is conscience and what does it mean to live according to conscience?
Most people have some kind of internal censor that helps them distinguish between the positive and negative aspects of life. It is important to learn to listen to the voice within yourself and follow its advice, and then it will serve as a guide to a happy future.
What does conscience mean?
There are several definitions of this concept: for example, conscience is considered the ability to independently identify their own duties of self-control and evaluate committed actions. Psychologists, explaining what conscience is in their own words, give the following definition: it is an internal quality that gives a chance to understand how well a person is aware of his own responsibility for a committed act.
To define what conscience is, it is necessary to note the fact that it is divided into two kinds. The first includes actions that a person performs, having a certain moral background. The second type refers to the emotions experienced by ...
They always talk about conscience, sometimes without even understanding what is meant by this concept. Let's see what conscience is. Conscience is often compared to a compass, which is so necessary for travelers to avoid getting into trouble. In appearance, this is a simple device with a magnetized needle, always pointing north. But if it works correctly and if it is used with detailed map, you can avoid trouble. This is very similar to conscience. If properly trained, she will protect us, but only if we respond quickly to her warnings.
Different opinions about conscience
Without conscience, we would be lost. There are many theories regarding the definition of conscience. For example, the Bible explains what conscience is. Literally, the word means "knowledge of oneself." This ability to know ourselves is given to us by God. It turns out that we can see ourselves from the outside and evaluate our actions, decisions and feelings. Conscience not only contributes to our joy, but can greatly help us ...
“You have no conscience!”, “I would have had a conscience!”, “Conscience is the best controller.” "Remorse". We have heard these and many other statements about conscience more than once or twice in our lives. So what is conscience? Why do we need it? How do we know if we have it or not, and how not to lose it?
Conscience is a kind of regulator of our relations with other people. At the same time, this regulator is different for everyone. The conscience of a person is a purely individual concept, there is no standard in it, you cannot measure it and say: "My conscience is greater than yours." It all depends on how able a person is to regulate his moral and ethical behavior, the norms of which are different for everyone and depend on upbringing, social environment, personal qualities, life experience. At the level of feelings, conscience helps us evaluate the fallacy or correctness of actions or deeds.
What is conscience: conscience in life examples
Conscience has a strong influence on our lives and can…
Following the discussions
Conscience brief summary discussion of the same name
Which of us is not familiar with our inner voice, called conscience, which either accuses us from the inside and oppresses us, or gives a feeling of joy and satisfaction for what has been done!?! This is our internal controller and judge, incorruptible and impartial. Just as a hungry person cannot convince himself that he is full, and an exhausted worker cannot convince himself that he is cheerful and full of strength and energy, so we cannot convince ourselves that we have done well and right when our conscience rebukes us for what we did wrong.
I. WHAT IS CONSCIENCE?
1. Definition of dictionaries:
Ushakov's Dictionary: Conscience is an internal assessment, an internal awareness of the morality of one's actions, a sense of moral responsibility for one's behavior.
Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: Conscience is the moral consciousness of a person, expressed in the assessment of one's own and other people's actions, based on a certain criterion of goodness and ...
1) Conscience - - a category of ethics that expresses the ability of a person to exercise moral self-control, to determine from the standpoint of good and evil the attitude towards one's own and other people's actions, lines of behavior. S. makes his assessments, as it were, regardless of the practical. interest, however, in reality, in various manifestations, S. of a person reflects the impact on him of concret. historical, social class conditions of life and education. S. does not generate, but only consolidates and reproduces those values and assessments that have been developed in societies. practice, and therefore, ultimately depends on the class. and societies, belonging to man. Scientific atheism is opposed to nihilistic. attitude to S., considering her beings, a feature of the spiritual appearance of the individual, and against the attitude towards her as an unchanging and infallible judge given to us by God. With the progress of social and cultural progress intellect. honesty as one of the requirements of S. more and more urgently requires the rejection of relit, faith, as having no logical. and actual rationale, and...
Conscience is the ability of the human spirit to distinguish between good and evil, the consciousness of good and evil (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov), the natural law that requires a God-pleasing life from the human mind (St. Abba Dorotheos).
Conscience is a desirable or active force (ability) of the human spirit, pointing a person to good and demanding its fulfillment. Being closely connected with reason and feeling, conscience has a practical character and can be called practical consciousness (St. Theophan the Recluse). If the mind cognizes, and the senses feel, then conscience, as an active force, determines the type of activity of the spirit in relation to the object cognized by the mind and felt by the senses.
In the word "conscience" the root "message" together with the particle "co" indicates "co-communication" and "co-action". The human conscience did not initially act alone. In man, before the fall, she acted together with God Himself, who dwells in His human soul ...
Social Psychology. Dictionary under. ed. M.Yu. Kondratiev
Conscience - the ability of a person to exercise moral self-control, independently formulate moral duties for himself, demand from himself their fulfillment and evaluate the actions performed; one of the expressions of the moral self-consciousness of the individual. WITH….
A large dictionary of esoteric terms - edited by d.m.s. Stepanov A.M.
(Russian, joint message, generalized knowledge). 1. Feeling and consciousness of moral responsibility for one's behavior and actions to oneself, to other people, society, moral principles, views, beliefs. 2. In occultism, the manifestation of criteria in the individual ...
Philosophical Dictionary
(joint knowledge, to know, to know): the ability of a person to realize his duty and responsibility to other people, independently evaluate and control his behavior, be a judge of his own thoughts and ...
What is conscience?
What is conscience and can you be guided by your conscience with confidence? How does a Bible-trained conscience help you make right decisions in life?
Conscience
Walking along a busy street, you pass an elegantly dressed woman who, without noticing, drops a wad of money. Leaning down to pick it up
pack, you see a woman hurriedly getting into an expensive car.
How will you do it? Will you call out to her or will you quickly hide the money in your pocket?
It depends on your conscience. What will she tell you? More importantly, can you trust her? Can you confidently be guided by your conscience?
Conscience is the natural feeling of conviction about what is good and evil, just and unjust, moral and immoral. In the Bible, the principle of conscience is described in Romans 2:14, 15 in these words:
“For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what is lawful, then, having no law, ...
Introduction
Even in ancient times, philosophers and sages thought about this voice: where does it come from and what is its nature? Various assumptions and theories have been put forward. The presence of this voice created special problems for the philosophers and scientists of the “modern time”, who see in man only a material being and deny the existence of the soul.
There were Darwinists who argued that conscience is an extra feeling that should be got rid of. It is interesting to cite the words of Hitler, who, as you know, was one of the thinkers of social Darwinism (the doctrine according to which the laws of natural selection and the struggle for existence, which, according to Charles Darwin, apply in nature to human society): “I free man from the humiliating chimera that...
Conscience refers exclusively to internal moral concepts. It implies the ability of a person to evaluate his behavior, his motives, internal desires from the standpoint of awareness of his own imperfection. The conscience of a person is always a conversation alone with oneself, therefore it excludes the presence of such categories as shame and fear, which are more of an external response to inconsistency with generally accepted norms. The feeling of one’s imperfection and dissatisfaction with oneself leads a person to moral experiences known as “remorse of conscience” or “pangs of conscience”.
In Christianity, conscience is one of the gifts given to man by God. This is good for a person, because it does not allow a person to turn completely onto the path of sin. Christians are commanded to train their conscience, which means to constantly reflect on the conformity of their actions with Christian morality.
If wrong behavior leads a person to a "troubled conscience", on the contrary, successful ...
“You have no conscience!”, “I would have had a conscience!”, “Conscience is the best controller.” "Remorse of conscience". We have heard these and many others more than once or twice in our lives. So what is conscience? Why do we need it? How do we know if we have it or not, and how not to lose it?
Conscience is a kind of regulator of our relations with other people. At the same time, this regulator is different for everyone. A person's conscience is a purely individual concept, there is no standard in it, you cannot measure it and say: "My conscience is greater than yours." It all depends on how able a person is to regulate his moral and ethical behavior, the norms of which are different for everyone and depend on the environment, personal qualities, and life experience. At the level of feelings, conscience helps us evaluate the fallacy or correctness of actions or deeds.
Conscience: conscience in life examples
Conscience has a strong influence on our lives and can lead to serious moral suffering (especially for emotional and sensitive individuals) as a result of committing a bad or even simply wrong act towards someone. For example, we can be rude to a passenger in transport due to our irritation or lack of education. The so-called "conscientious" person will immediately apologize for his inappropriate behavior or will experience "pangs of conscience" for a while. long time, and for the "unscrupulous" rudeness is the norm, nothing can be done about it. We can be rude to our parents, who do not get tired of teaching us about life, but then we realize that we were wrong, because from childhood we were taught that being rude to our elders is bad. In many situations in which we become participants every day, conscience protects, warns us against committing actions that we will later regret, as if giving an alarm signal about the fallacy, incorrectness or inappropriateness of this or that act.
What is conscience: sources of conscience
The foundations of conscience are laid by parents in us at an early age (at 3-5 years old), and the process of its formation is called education. At the same time, the most important role here is played by no means by verbal stories about what is bad and what is good, but by the visual behavior of the parents and their reaction to the actions and actions of the baby. To bring up a conscience in a child, you need to work hard. So, if you say that lying is bad, and then you yourself tell a lie, what to expect from a child who believes that all the actions of his parents are the norm of behavior for him too? If you teach a child to respect the adult generation, and then break down on each other or on others, will the rudiments of conscience bear good fruit? If the kid did something wrong, you don’t need to immediately shout: “You can’t do this!” and punish him for his wrongdoing. Explain clearly why it’s impossible, what negative consequences it can turn into (“If you touch the hot surface of the iron, you will burn your fingers, it will be very painful, you won’t be able to play toys, draw”, “If you don’t pick up toys from the floor and if you don’t put it in place, someone will step on them and they will break”, etc.).
Shame, shame and conscience
When we condemn someone, we can say that we shame the person, we try to awaken his conscience. Shame is an indicator of moral behavior. It is believed that he has such a synonym as shame. This is not entirely true. Shame is actually a certain state of our soul, self-condemnation. Shame is a state of mind imposed on us, one might say, a provocation. Someone insulted us, told an unpleasant story about us, and we took it upon ourselves, we feel disgraced (and it doesn’t matter if they told the truth or invented it). And here it becomes already that a person gnaws at us more deeply than conscience.
What is conscience: varieties and forms of conscience
The science of morality, in particular conscience, is called ethics. Ethics classifies conscience according to:
2. The form of manifestation (individual, collective).
3. Intensity of manifestation (suffering, muffled, active).
The forms of conscience are also represented by a fairly wide range of manifestations: this is doubt, and painful hesitation, and reproach, and confession, and shame, and self-irony, etc.
Conscience is a kind of spiritual instinct that distinguishes good from evil faster and more clearly than the mind. Whoever follows the voice of conscience will not regret his actions.
In Holy Scripture, the conscience is also called the heart. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ likened the conscience to “ eye” (eye), through which a person sees his moral condition (Mt. 6:22). The Lord also likened the conscience " opponent,” which a person needs to come to terms with before they stand before the Judge (Mt. 5:25). This is last name points to distinguishing feature conscience: resist our bad deeds and intentions.
Our personal experience also convinces us that this inner voice, called conscience, is out of our control and expresses itself directly, apart from our desire. Just as we cannot convince ourselves that we are full when we are hungry, or that we are rested when we are tired, so we cannot convince ourselves that we have done well when our conscience tells us that we have done bad.
Conscience in Scripture
The will of God becomes known to man in two ways: firstly, through his own inner being and, secondly, through revelations or , communicated by God and the Lord Jesus Christ incarnate and written down by the prophets and apostles. The first way of communicating the will of God is called internal, or natural, and the second, external, or supernatural. First - psychological nature, and the second - historical.
The existence of an internal, or natural, moral law is clearly evidenced by St. Paul, saying: When the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what is lawful, then having no law, they are their own law, for they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts (Rom. 2:14-15). And on the basis of this law, written in the hearts, written laws were formed among the pagan peoples and were drawn up, serving as a guide for public life and educating moral freedom in each individual person. Although these customs and laws were imperfect, it would still be worse without them, since it would have settled in human society complete arbitrariness and licentiousness. With a lack of care, the people fall like leaves, says the wise one (Prov. 11:14).
The presence of the natural law of morality in a person is told to everyone by his conscience. Having spoken of the work of the law written in the very nature of the Gentiles, the apostle adds: their conscience testifies(Rom. 2:15). Conscience has its foundation in all three known psychic powers: in knowledge, feeling and will. The very word conscience(to know, to know), as well as the usual expressions: conscience spoke, conscience recognizes or conscience rejects, show that there is an element of knowledge in conscience. Further, the feeling in the conscience of joy or sorrow, of peace or discontent and anxiety is akin to conscience with feeling. Finally, we express ourselves: conscience keeps me from this, or conscience forces me to do this, therefore, we relate conscience to will. Thus, conscience is a "voice" (as is commonly expressed) arising from a peculiar combination of all three psychic faculties. It arises from the relation of a person's self-consciousness to self-determination and his activity.
Conscience is as important to action as logic is to thought. Or as a sense of rhyme, tact, etc. inherent in a person - for poetry, music, etc. Next, conscience is something primitive, innate to man, and not derivative, imposed. It always testifies to the likeness of man to God and the need to fulfill the commandments of God. When the tempter seduced Eve in paradise, then immediately appeared on guard of her conscience, announcing the inadmissibility of transgressing the commandment of God. Eva said: we can eat fruits from trees, only the fruits of a tree that is in the middle of paradise, God said, do not eat them and do not touch them, lest you die(Gen. 3:2-3). That is why the ancients spoke about conscience: est Deus in nobis, i.e. in conscience we feel not only the human, but also the higher-human, or divine, side. And according to the words of the wise Sirach, God laid his eye on the hearts of people (Sir. 17:7). This is the essence of the invincible power and greatness of conscience in relation to human intentions and actions. One cannot bargain with conscience, conspire, enter into deals: conscience is incorruptible. There is no need for reasoning and deductions to hear the decision of conscience: it speaks directly. As soon as a person thinks of doing something bad, conscience immediately comes to his post, warning him and threatening him. And after committing an evil deed, conscience immediately punishes and torments him. It is not in vain that they say that it is not the man who owns the conscience, but the conscience owns the man. Man is dependent on his conscience.
How does conscience work? Conscience is distinguished by its actions legislative and judging(punishing). The former is the scale for measuring our actions, and the latter is the result of this measurement. Ap. Paul calls the legislative conscience testifying about deeds (Gentiles; Rom. 2:15). And elsewhere: I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience testifies to me in the Holy Spirit(Rom. 9:1). But in St. Scripture speaks more of a judging conscience. So Adam after the fall, Cain after fratricide, Joseph's brothers after revenge on the innocent - they all experience torment in their conscience. 2 Samuel speaks of broken heart, i.e. about the condemning conscience (ch.24:10). In the psalms of David more than once they speak of a similar state of man. The New Testament speaks of the scribes and Pharisees who brought a sinner to the Lord Savior that: they began to leave one by one, convicted by conscience(John 8:3). In the messages of Peter and Paul, in places about conscience, more is said about the conscience judging, i.e. rewarding or punishing.
What are the states of the human conscience? Since conscience is a natural voice heard in the very nature of man, as a result of this, it is in close connection with the whole state of the human soul, depending on its moral development - on education, lifestyle and history in general. This idea is also confirmed by St. Scripture. The history of Revelation has as its task the clearest revelation of the law, and, moreover, in accordance with man's own knowledge of it. Ap. Paul recognizes the gradual growth of moral wisdom in man and demands it when he says: Whoever feeds on milk is ignorant of the words of truth, because he is a baby; solid food is characteristic of the perfect, in whom the senses are accustomed by skill to distinguish between good and evil(Heb. 5:13-14); and further: And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may know what is the will of God, which is good, acceptable, and perfect.(Rom. 12:2). The development and perfection of conscience depends both on the education of the mind and on the perfection of the will. Strict justice, in particular - the love of truth and the coordination of practical actions with theoretical knowledge, - these are the main foundations of clarity, sharpness and liveliness of conscience (conscientiousness). And there are external aids to this: the instructions of the parents, the voice and example of the best part of society, and most importantly - the Holy. Scripture, clearly and in all purity revealing moral truths and justly denouncing human vices.
If conscience is dependent on general condition a person, mental and moral, formed under the influence of the environment, both an individual and entire nations, which is very often perverted, then for this reason the voice of conscience is heard different people quite different, sometimes contradictory. It is known from history that people sometimes commit the most cruel acts, even terrible crimes, referring to the voice of their conscience. Let us recall, for example, the Inquisition, the custom of pagan peoples to kill weakly born children and decrepit old people, and so on. Yes, and between us often one with clear conscience does that which makes the conscience of another indignant. Finally, in one and the same person, conscience can speak in different time differently. From this it follows that the conscience is not manifested in the same way for everyone, that its voice can be true and untrue, both in varying degrees. That's why app. Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians speaks of a weak or deluded conscience, the conscience of idols, i.e. a conscience that recognizes idols as real powers (1 Cor. 8:7,13). Next, the opinion of those who think that a person’s conscience contains “a complete and organized moral law, the same and always equal content” cannot be accepted, and therefore, in cases of error and moral damage, he should only look at his conscience in order to understand his delusion, your perverted state and turn to a better path.
The history of the life of pagan peoples and their conversion to Christianity does not support this view. History shows both that not all peoples have the same code of commandments, and that when converting pagans to Christianity, the matter was not limited only to a reminder of the contents of their conscience. There was a difficult and lengthy work in the whole being of the pagan, a continuous and persistent influence on all his consciousness. That is why the struggle of the missionaries with pagan superstitions and customs is far from being easy, as it would be if this theory of conscience were true. But, nevertheless, this struggle is possible, it gives results, and the pagans are converted to Christianity. And this is a sign that the opportunity is open for all people to correct their conscience and be guided by its correct and pure instructions. Every person is the image and likeness of God.
Truth or fallacy, confidence or doubtfulness (probability) - these are the properties of the legislative conscience. We call the judging conscience calm or restless, peaceful or disturbing, comforting or painful. In the Holy In Scripture, it is called a good, pure, blameless conscience or evil, vicious, defiled, burned. Before the Jewish Sanhedrin, St. Paul testified that he lived with all good conscience before God until this day(Acts 23:1). Ap. Peter exhorts Christians to have a good conscience, so that those who reproach your good walk in Christ may be ashamed by the things for which you are reviled as evildoers.(1 Pet. 3:16 and 21). In the Epistle to the Hebrews, Rev. Paul expresses confidence that we have a good conscience, because we want to behave honestly in everything(13:18). He commands to have sacrament in a clear conscience(1 Tim. 3:9). And I myself strive to have an undefiled conscience before God and people(Acts 24:16), he says of himself. In the letter to the Hebrews, the apostle calls the conscience evil or vicious when he calls proceed with a sincere heart, with full faith, sprinkling [the Blood of Christ], cleansing the heart from an evil conscience. (Heb. 10:22). In his epistle to Titus, the apostle calls the conscience "defiled" when he speaks of people: their mind and conscience are defiled. They say that they know God, but by deeds they deny, being vile and rebellious and incapable of any good deed.(Titus 1:15). burned but in conscience the apostle calls those false verbalists through which in the last times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons(1 Tim. 4:1-2). Burning signifies here the painful consciousness of guilt.
According to the strength or energy, the conscience is called resolute or scrupulous. It is akin to a suspicious conscience. It is characteristic of people who are prone to despondency and do not trust the means of cleansing from sins. Under the influence of passions and the noise of the world, conscience is often hard to hear to a person and becomes muffled. If you often drown out the voice of conscience, then it becomes quieter, the conscience gets sick, dies, and such a process ends with the death of conscience, i.e. a state of dishonesty.
But, speaking of the state of conscience, we do not understand the absence of the punitive power of conscience in a person, but only the absence of conscience, i.e. the trampling of all divine and human laws and rights, the withering away of every moral feeling. Of course, the storms of passions and the noise of this world can drown out the punitive voice of conscience. But even in this case, the judging conscience is expressed in a person. It then manifests itself in secret despondency, melancholy, melancholy, in a state of hopelessness. And when the passions and noise of the world subside (which happens throughout life, but especially before death), then an evil conscience falls upon a person with all its fury. It then produces anxiety and timidity in a person, and an agonizing expectation of a future reward. Cain, Saul, Judas, Orestes can serve as models. So conscience is either a comforter or a tormentor.
We have given all the excerpts from the Holy Scriptures relating to human conscience. It remains to point out only one place in the message of St. Paul to the Corinthians; it reads like this: I mean conscience, not my own, but another; for why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? (1 Cor. 10:29). In these words, conscience is presented as an individual instance: this means that each person has a conscience only for himself. It follows from this that I must beware of raising the voice of my conscience to the level of the law for others, and thus injure my conscience. I must treat both my own conscience and the conscience of others with attention and condescension.
The nature of conscience
Conscience is the universal moral law
The presence of conscience testifies to the fact that indeed, as the story goes, God, already at the very creation of man, inscribed in the depths of his soul His image and likeness(Gen. 1:26). Therefore, it is customary to call conscience the voice of God in man. Being a moral law written directly on the heart of a person, it acts in all people regardless of their age, race, upbringing and level of development.
Scholars (anthropologists) who study the manners and customs of backward tribes and peoples testify that so far not a single tribe, even the most savage, has been found that would be alien to one or another concept of morally good and evil. In addition, many tribes not only highly value goodness and abhor evil, but for the most part agree in their views on the essence of both. Many, even savage tribes, stand as high in their concepts of good and evil as the most developed and cultured peoples. Even among those tribes in which deeds are raised to the degree of virtue, disapproving from the prevailing point of view, in everything else related to moral concepts, complete agreement with the views of all people is noticed.
About the actions of the internal moral law in people St. apostle Pavel in the first chapters of his epistle to the Romans. The apostle reproaches the Jews that, knowing the written Divine law, they often violate it, while the pagans “not having(written) law, by nature they do what is lawful ... They show(this) that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as evidenced by their conscience and thoughts, which now accuse, now justify one another”(Rom. 2:15). App here. Paul explains how this law of conscience alternately rewards and punishes a person. So, every person, whoever he is, Jew or Gentile, feels peace, joy and satisfaction when he does good, and, on the contrary, feels anxiety, sorrow and oppression when he does evil. Moreover, even the pagans, when they do evil or indulge in debauchery, know from an inner feeling that God's punishment will follow for these actions (Rom. 1:32). On the upcoming doomsday God will judge people not only by their faith, but also by the testimony of their conscience. Therefore, as teaches ap. Paul, and the Gentiles can be saved if their conscience testifies before God of their virtuous life.
Conscience has great sensitivity to good and evil. If man had not been corrupted by sin, he would not need a written law. Conscience could correctly guide all his actions. The need for a written law arose after the fall, when a person, darkened by passions, no longer clearly hears the voice of his conscience. But essentially, both the written law and the internal law of conscience say the same thing: “as you want people to do to you, do to them”(Mt. 7:12).
In daily relationships with people, we subconsciously lose more of a person's conscience than written laws and rules. After all, you can’t keep track of any crime, and sometimes unrighteous judges have a law - “what was the drawbar: where you turned, it went there.” Conscience contains within itself the eternal and unchanging law of God. Therefore, normal relationships between people are possible only as long as people have not lost their conscience.
About maintaining the purity of conscience
“Keep your heart above all things, for out of it are the fountains of life”(Proverbs 4:23). With these words Holy Bible urges a person to protect his moral purity.
But what about a sinful person who has stained his conscience; is he forever doomed? Fortunately not! The great advantage of Christianity over other religions is that it opens the way and provides the means to fullcleansing conscience.
This path is to repentantly cast down your sins before the mercy of God with a sincere intention to change your life for the better. God forgives us for the sake of His Only Begotten Son, who on the cross offered atonement for our sins. In the sacrament, and then in the sacraments of confession and communion, God completely cleanses the conscience of a person “from dead works” (Heb. 9:14). That's why it's great importance gives these sacraments.
In addition, the Church of Christ possesses that grace-filled power that makes it possible for conscience to improve in sensitivity and clarity of manifestations. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”. Through a clear conscience, God's light begins to act, which guides the thoughts, words and actions of a person. In this grace-filled illumination, man becomes an instrument of God's Providence. He not only saves himself and improves spiritually, but contributes to the salvation of people who associate with him (let us remember Saints Seraphim of Sarov, John of Kronstadt, Elder Ambrose of Optina and other righteous people).
Finally, a clear conscience is the source of inner joy. People with a pure heart are calm, friendly and benevolent. People with a pure heart already in this life are looking forward to the bliss of the Kingdom!
“Not the greatness of power,” says St. John Chrysostom, - “not a lot of money, not the vastness of power, not a bodily fortress, not a luxurious table, not magnificent clothes, not other human advantages bring complacency and joy; but this happens only as a fruit of spiritual well-being and a good conscience.”
What is remorse?
Committing a sin for the first time, a person feels a certain [internal] conviction, experiences. Having committed the same sin again, he experiences less conviction, and if he. is inattentive and continues to sin, then his conscience hardens.
The devil often finds an excuse for sins, and instead of confessing: “I did this to trample my conscience,” she justifies herself: “I did this so that the Elder would not be upset.” He turns the tuning knob to a different frequency so we don't see his wrongdoing. One woman, having come to confession, sobbed inconsolably and repeated the same phrase: “I didn’t want to kill her!” “Listen,” her confessor began to reassure her, “if you have repentance, then God has the forgiveness of sin. After all, He forgave the repentant David.”
Joys cover sin, drive it deeper, but it continues to work from within. Thus, a person tramples on his conscience and therefore begins to harden, and his heart is slowly salted. And then the devil finds an excuse for him in everything: “This is a trifling matter, but this is a natural thing ...” However, such a person does not have peace, because the frustration driven into the depths does not stop. He feels uneasy in himself, has no inner peace and silence. He lives with incessant torment, suffers and cannot understand what is the reason for all this, because his sins are covered from above, driven deep. Such a person does not understand that he is suffering because he has committed a sin.
Conscience in psychology
Psychology deals with the study of the properties of conscience and its relationship with other mental abilities of a person. Psychology tries to establish two points: a) Is conscience natural property the person with whom he is born, or is it the fruit of upbringing and is conditioned by the living conditions in which a person is formed? and b) Is conscience a manifestation of the mind, feelings or will of a person, or is it an independent force?
Careful observation of the presence of conscience in a person convinces us that conscience is not the fruit of education or the physical instincts of a person, but has a higher, inexplicable origin.
For example, children show conscience before any upbringing by adults. If physical instincts dictated conscience, then conscience would induce people to do what is beneficial and pleasant for them. However, conscience very often compels a person to do exactly what is unprofitable and unpleasant for him. No matter how the wicked enjoy with impunity and no matter how good, praiseworthy people suffer in this temporary life, conscience tells everyone that there is a higher justice. Sooner or later everyone will be rewarded for their deeds. That is why for many people the most convincing argument in favor of the existence of God and the immortality of the soul is the presence in man of the voice of conscience. 
As for the relationship of conscience with other human forces, with his mind, feeling and will, we see that conscience not only tells a person about what is in itself good or bad in a moral sense, but also obliges he will certainly do good and avoid doing bad, accompanying good actions with a feeling of joy and satisfaction, and vicious actions with a feeling of shame, fear, and mental anguish. In these manifestations of conscience, cognitive, sensual and volitional sides are revealed.
Of course, reason alone cannot consider some actions as morally good and others as morally bad. It tends to find one or another of our and other people's actions either smart or stupid, expedient or inexpedient, profitable or unprofitable, and nothing more. Meanwhile, something prompts the mind to oppose the most, sometimes advantageous, opportunities to good actions, condemn the former and approve the latter. He sees in some human actions not only a benefit or miscalculation, like mathematical calculations, but gives a moral assessment of actions. Does it not follow from this that the conscience acts on the mind with the help of moral arguments, acting, in essence, independently of it?
Turning to the volitional side of the manifestations of conscience, we observe that the will itself is the ability of a person to desire something, but this ability does not command a person what to do. The human will, as far as we know it in ourselves and in other people, very often struggles with the demands of the moral law and struggles to break free from the shackles that constrain it. If the volitional manifestation of conscience were only the exercise of human will, then in this case there would be no such struggle. Meanwhile, the requirements of morality certainly control our will. She may not fulfill these requirements, being free, but she cannot renounce them either. However, the very non-fulfillment by the will of the requirements of conscience does not go unpunished for her.
Finally, the sensuous side of conscience cannot be regarded as merely the sensuous faculty of the human heart. The heart craves pleasant sensations and avoids unpleasant ones. Meanwhile, violation of the requirements of morality is often associated with strong mental anguish that tears apart the human heart, from which we cannot get rid of, no matter how much we wish and try. Undoubtedly, the sensuous faculty of conscience cannot be regarded as a manifestation of ordinary sensibility.
Penance: Medicine for a sick conscience
Films about conscience:
The account is non-evening. From 17 September. Faith and conscience
About conscience
How to wake up your conscience?
