Is conscience the voice of God or of reason, or merely the internalised voice of authority and society, and which account best explains moral guilt?
Component 3 conscience: Aquinas's rational account (synderesis and conscientia) against the psychological accounts of Freud (the super-ego) and Fromm (authoritarian and humanistic conscience), with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to conscience. Covers Aquinas's rational account (synderesis and conscientia, and the mistaken conscience), Freud's psychological account (the super-ego and guilt), and Fromm's authoritarian and humanistic conscience, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
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What this dot point is asking
Eduqas Component 3 (Theme 1, Ethical Thought) studies conscience: what it is and where it comes from. You learn Aquinas's rational account (synderesis and conscientia, and the mistaken conscience) and the psychological accounts of Freud (the super-ego and guilt) and Erich Fromm (the authoritarian and humanistic conscience). The exam rewards explaining each account precisely (AO1) and evaluating which best explains conscience and moral guilt (AO2).
The answer
Aquinas: synderesis and conscientia
Aquinas: the mistaken conscience
Freud: the super-ego
Fromm: authoritarian and humanistic conscience
Examples in context
Try this
Q1. Explain Freud's and Fromm's psychological accounts of conscience. [part (a), AO1, 20 marks]
- What the marker wants. Accurate account of the super-ego and guilt (Freud) and the authoritarian and humanistic conscience (Fromm), organised and using specialist terms. AO1 band.
Q2. "Aquinas's account of conscience is more convincing than Freud's." Evaluate this view. [part (b), AO2, 30 marks]
- Cue. Weigh Aquinas's rational, correctable conscience oriented to the good against Freud's super-ego, and the evidence each appeals to (moral reform versus cultural variation and irrational guilt), then judge. AO2 band, the larger 30-mark tariff.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Eduqas A120 2018 (style)20 marksExplain Aquinas's understanding of conscience. [part (a), AO1, 20 marks]Show worked answer →
A part (a) AO1 question on the five-band scheme. Explain Aquinas's account accurately.
For Aquinas conscience is not a special faculty or voice but an activity of reason applied to morality. Synderesis is the innate, rational disposition (first principle) to "do good and avoid evil"; it is always right. Conscientia is the act of reason that applies moral knowledge to a particular decision, working out what to do and judging acts done. Conscientia can err: a mistaken conscience (through invincible ignorance, where one could not have known better, or vincible ignorance, where one could) reaches the wrong judgement. We are bound to follow conscience even when mistaken, but are culpable for vincible error. Conscience is thus reason seeking the good, ultimately oriented to God. A top band answer explains synderesis, conscientia and the mistaken conscience.
Eduqas A120 2021 (style)20 marks"Conscience is nothing more than the voice of society internalised in childhood." Evaluate this view. [part (b), AO2, the full Eduqas tariff is 30 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.]Show worked answer →
A part (b) AO2 question; the top band rewards balanced argument and a justified conclusion.
For the view: Freud's super-ego is the internalised voice of parental and social authority, and the variation of consciences across cultures supports a social origin; guilt is the super-ego punishing the ego. Against: Aquinas and Newman (the voice of God) hold conscience is reason or a divine voice, not mere conditioning; the fact that conscience can criticise society (the reformer who defies social norms) shows it is not just society's echo; Fromm's humanistic conscience is the authentic self, not just authority. Weigh whether the psychological account is complete or leaves out reason and moral autonomy, and conclude.
Related dot points
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- Component 3 the relationship between religion and morality: the autonomy, heteronomy and theonomy of ethics, whether morality needs God, and the views of Kant, Aquinas and secular critics, with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to the relationship between religion and morality. Covers the autonomy, heteronomy and theonomy of ethics, whether morality depends on God, the Euthyphro problem, Kant's postulate of God, and secular accounts of morality, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
- Component 3 libertarianism and the compatibility of determinism and free will: Sartre's radical freedom, the libertarian case, and compatibilism (soft determinism), with the implications for moral responsibility and strengths and weaknesses.
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Sources & how we know this
- Eduqas A Level Religious Studies specification (A120QS) — WJEC Eduqas (2016)
- Erich Fromm, Man for Himself — Routledge (1947)