Is conscience the voice of reason directing us to the good (Aquinas), the internalised voice of authority (Freud), or something else?
Component 02 Conscience: Aquinas's theological account (ratio, synderesis, conscientia) and Freud's psychological account (the super-ego and guilt), with the contrast between conscience as reason and conscience as a construct.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 02 guide to conscience. Covers Aquinas's account of conscience as reason (ratio, synderesis, conscientia, vincible and invincible ignorance) and Freud's account of conscience as the super-ego producing guilt, with the contrast and the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
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What this dot point is asking
OCR Component 02 examines conscience: what it is and where it comes from. Two rival accounts are named. Aquinas gives a theological and rationalist account: conscience is a function of reason, not a voice, working through synderesis and conscientia. Freud gives a psychological account: conscience is the super-ego, an internalised authority producing guilt. The exam rewards explaining each precisely and then evaluating whether conscience is reason directing us to the good, a developmental construct, or something the two accounts together illuminate.
The answer
Aquinas: conscience as reason
Synderesis and conscientia
Erring conscience: vincible and invincible ignorance
Freud: conscience as the super-ego
Examples in context
Try this
Q1. "Conscience is best understood as the voice of reason, not the voice of God or society." Discuss. [40 marks]
- What the marker wants. An AO2 essay weighing Aquinas's rational account against Freud's super-ego and any divine-voice view, judging which best explains how conscience works, errs and develops. AO1 out of 25, AO2 out of 15.
Q2. Assess whether Freud's account of conscience is convincing. [40 marks]
- Cue. Freud explains guilt and the variation of conscience but is hard to test and reductive. Weigh its explanatory power against its scientific weaknesses and its dismissal of reason, and judge.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR H573/02 2018 (style)20 marksAssess Aquinas's understanding of conscience. (The full OCR tariff for this essay is 40 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.)Show worked answer →
A 40-mark Component 02 essay on the six-level scheme (AO1 out of 25, AO2 out of 15). Explaining the account earns AO1; the higher levels reward judging it.
Explain (AO1). For Aquinas conscience is not a voice but a function of reason. Synderesis is the innate disposition to pursue good and avoid evil; conscientia is reason applying that knowledge to a particular act (ratio). Conscience can err through invincible ignorance (blameless) or vincible ignorance (culpable); a person should follow even a mistaken conscience.
Evaluate (AO2). Strengths: it links morality to reason and explains moral error without making conscience infallible. Weaknesses: it assumes a God-given orientation to the good that the non-religious reject, and Freud offers a rival, developmental account; people who reason carefully still disagree.
Judge. A top answer decides whether conscience is best understood as reason, and defends the verdict.
OCR H573/02 2021 (style)20 marksCritically assess Freud's claim that conscience is a product of the super-ego. (The full OCR tariff for this essay is 40 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.)Show worked answer →
A levels-of-response essay testing AO1 understanding of Freud and AO2 evaluation of it.
Explain. Freud holds the mind has the id (desires), ego (reality) and super-ego (internalised parental and social authority). Conscience is part of the super-ego: guilt is the super-ego punishing the ego for transgressing internalised rules. So conscience is not the voice of God or reason but a developmental construct from childhood.
Evaluate. Strengths: it explains the felt authority of conscience, irrational guilt, and why consciences differ by upbringing. Weaknesses: Freud's theory is hard to test scientifically (Popper), rests on contested case studies, and reductively dismisses any rational or moral content in conscience.
Judge. A high-level answer weighs whether the super-ego fully explains conscience or leaves a rational remainder, and reaches a justified conclusion.
Related dot points
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- Component 02 Kantian ethics: the good will and duty, the categorical imperative and its three formulations (universal law, ends in themselves, kingdom of ends), and the summum bonum, with strengths and weaknesses.
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- Component 03 The challenge of secularism: secularism and secularisation, Dawkins's New Atheism, Freud's psychological critique of religion, the spiritual but not religious movement, and Christianity in public life.
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Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Religious Studies (H573) specification — OCR (2016)
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (First Part, Questions 79 and 94) — Project Gutenberg (1274)