Blogpost 4 : Types of Conscience?

Are there types of conscience? Actually there are no '"types" because the conscience is not full of species, like fish or bacteria. It is what it is, a singular thing defined as. It depends on how many ego one possesses. Conscience is a facility in our minds that distinguishes between right and wrong. A conscience forms before you are even born, but when it is in action is when you know if something is wrong or not. A conscience only works when you are doing the wrong thing when you know it is wrong. Therefore when a 1 year old does something silly and does not know it is wrong, the conscience will do nothing about it. Therefore the conscience forms and works as you grow and learn.

A conscience must consider all the facts; if it relies on something irrational, that is a mistake, not a "kind" of conscience. The word "kind" literally implies species, and there is only specie, as there is only one specie of man. If you think it through then whatever that thought process is your real foundation of morality. There are no specific types of conscience, It's really in accordance on how a person think and feel. It also depends on how you were brought up, essentially if a kid who grew up in a god fearing community and well guided family, there is a tendency this kid will grow within the standards of morality and conscience, whereas, a kid who typically grew up in a chaotic and probably crime exposed communities can easily change his/her views about morality and having a conscience in whatever they will do.

I found an article entitled "KINDS OF CONSCIENCE" by Rodelio Mallari in sermoncentral. It suggest the different types of conscience that can be found in the bible. There are seven types of conscience according to the article of Rodelio Mallari. He stated that "conscience is not always the voice of God in man" I also believe that theory can be true because sometimes conscience is formed and influenced by people we know, people we don't know, communities and norms of morality.

The first conscience written in the article is "An evil conscience". It is the opposite of a good conscience, This seems like a simple answer, but it is true. An evil conscience encourages the person too, when he does wrong. The second is "A convicted conscience" It's a conscience that gives us knowledge about god's law but we can't choose good from evil. Third is "A purged conscience" It is a conscience that rejects evil. Fourth "A pure conscience" It's the same with purged conscience, it brings you to the right way. Fifth "A weak conscience"  It is commonly found among immature christians who likes to show off, that they're attending mass every week but who know's? If they are really listening to the sermon. Sixth "A good conscience" It is the opposite of weak conscience. For the last conscience we have "A conscience void of offence" it is void of any offence before man and god.

In his article, he stated "Conscience can serve as a warning system to man. Like physical pain, which warns of damage to the body, the conscience can warn of damage to the soul!" I agree with that. A person before doing an act, conscience serves as guidance or it predicts the outcome of one's act being bad or good. It brings to a state as if you already done that. Conscience can even transport you into a timeline of what could be the result of one's action. Your conscience is less like a guide, and more like an alarm to tell you that now is an important time to think about the moral implications of a situation. Having a conscience is not just knowing what's right and wrong, sometimes, it's what struck us to feel the humane inside of us.

A friend once told me that "having or not having conscience is still all together being human" well that perspective can be debatable but at the end of the day we all agree that life is full of contradictions and us humans, how much we try to be perfect in all aspects it will all boils down to the fact that we're humans and part of being human is our imperfections. The authority over your own conscience is inside you, no one can have one for you. It is as individual as DNA.

So from what I have learned in this topic. Doing the right thing over and over will train your conscience causing it to become more accurate, and doing the wrong thing will numb it. However, it can get out of whack through abuse, or bad ethical teaching. So my understanding of conscience is that it should not be treated as an authority, but as a tool in decision making along with other tools such as reason, law, etc.