Friday, June 22, 2007

Conscience and truth


At its most basic level, Catholic moral theology teaches that conscience is the highest norm and that one must always follow it, even against opposing dictates of legitimate authority.

This teaching supposes though that conscience is properly formed and based on established truths which guide the decisions in question. Otherwise, conscience would lead to situational truth, to the detriment of any measure of absolute or common guiding principle.

In his book Values in a Time of Upheaval (p.92), Benedict XVI asserts that there is an inherent existential tendency of man, who is created in the image of God, to tend toward that which is in keeping with God. Thanks to its origin, man's being is in harmony with some things but not with others. This anamnesis of our origin, resulting from the fact that our being is constitutively in keeping with God, is not a knowledge articulated in concepts, a treasure store of retrievable contents. It is an inner sense, a capacity for recognition, in such a way that the one addressed recognizes in himself an echo of what is said to him. If he does not hide from his own self, he comes to the insight (that) this is the goal toward which my whole being tends, this is where I want to go.

Human beings all possess this innate ability to discern the truth of a situation, at least as it relates to our known experience of existence. This truth must in turn be formed by faith and the consequent value systems which motivate us to live our lives in accordance with our beliefs.

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) presupposed that anamnesis exists and described it as an internal contradiction of that which is evil and an internal orientation that we possess to the good. The act of conscience applies this basic knowledge in specific situations in three elements: recognition, bearing witness and judgement.

With this in mind, Benedict explains that (p. 97) one who follows the conviction at which he has arrived, (having taken into account the necessity for proper formation of the conscience) never incurs guilt. Indeed one must follow such a conviction. But guilt may very well consist in arriving at such perverse convictions by trampling down the protest made by the anamnesis of one's true being. The guilt would then lie on the deeper level, not in the act itself, not in the specific judgement pronounced by conscience, but in the neglect of my own being that has dulled me to the voice of truth and mde me deaf to what it says within me.

The anamnesis of God, which is within each of us therefore reaches out toward the Redeemer and all people are therefore able to comprehend that Christ is the Redeemer because it is He who answers our innermost hopes, dreams and expectations.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The term anamnesis holds a variety of meanings in medical, philosophical and religious contexts. Can you please offer a definition that will enhance my understanding of this term as it is used within the text. The religious definition as a memorial prayer of remembrance doesn't seem to fit.

Sonopadre said...

The definition of anamnesis in this case is more in line with the traditional Platonic understanding as a recollection of ideas which the soul had known in a previous existence. As such we are dealing with a 'collective recollection of the past'.

In this sense, the word 'anamnesis' seeks to affirm what Paul writes in his letter ot the Romans: 'When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness (Rom 2:14-15) (see Values, p. 90-91 for more on this subject)

Anonymous said...

I see a moral conscience as one and the same as the Holy Spirit.

Also, 'the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law' (Gal 5:22-23)