Conscience as cognition : phenomenological complementing of Aquinas's theory of conscience

225 Pages·2013·2.28 MB·English

by  Thomas

Conscience as Cognition
European Studies in Theology,
Philosophy and History of Religions
Edited by Bartosz Adamczewski

Vol. 7
Jan Krokos

Conscience
as Cognition
Phenomenological Complementing
of Aquinas's Theory of Conscience
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the
Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is
available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

The publication was financially supported
by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education –
National Programme for the Development of Humanities

Translation: Skrivanek Sp. z o.o.

ISSN 2192-1857
ISBN 978-3-631-62701-3 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-653-02505-7 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-02505-7
© Peter Lang GmbH
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Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................... 9
0.1. Subject of the study and its justification ....................................................... 9
0.2. Modern directions of research into the conscience ...................................... 14
0.3. Structure of the study and method .............................................................. 18
Chapter One
The Context of Thomas’s Teaching on Conscience ....................................... 21
1.1. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum ............................................................ 22
1.1.1. Genesis of the work .......................................................................... 22
1.1.2. General description of the work ....................................................... 23
1.1.3. The place of the teaching on conscience .......................................... 24
1.2. Quaestiones disputatae De veritate ............................................................ 26
1.2.1. Genesis of the work .......................................................................... 26
1.2.2. General description of the work ....................................................... 28
1.2.3. The place of the teaching on conscience .......................................... 30
1.3. Summa theologiae ....................................................................................... 31
1.3.1. Genesis of the work .......................................................................... 31
1.3.2. General description of the work ....................................................... 32
1.3.3. The place of the teaching on conscience .......................................... 34
1.4. Summary ..................................................................................................... 38
Chapter Two
Saint Thomas’s Questions about Conscience ................................................. 41
2.1. Theory of questions by Aristotle and Thomas ............................................ 41
2.1.1. Outline of the theory of questions by Aristotle ................................ 42
2.1.2. Thomas’s theory of questions ........................................................... 52
2.2. Analysis of Thomas’s questions about conscience ..................................... 56
2.2.1. General characteristics of Thomas’s questions about conscience .... 56
2.2.2. Questions about conscience in particular works
of Thomas Aquinas ........................................................................... 60
2.2.2.1. Summa theologiae ............................................................... 60
2.2.2.2. Quaestiones disputatae De veritate .................................... 61
2.2.2.3. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum ................................... 62
2.2.3. Typology of Thomas’s questions about conscience ......................... 63
2.2.3.1. Questions about synderesis ................................................. 64
2.2.3.1.1. Question about the kind of being of synderesis ..... 64
2.2.3.1.2. Question about functioning of synderesis.......... 65
2.2.3.1.3. Question about properties of synderesis ........... 66
6 Table of Contents
2.2.3.2. Questions about conscience (conscientia)..........................66
2.2.3.2.1. Question about the kind of being of conscience .... 67
2.2.3.2.2. Question about functioning of conscience ......... 67
2.2.3.2.3. Questions about action by judgement
of conscience ...................................................... 68
2.3. Summary ..................................................................................................... 69
Chapter Three
Thomas Aquinas’s Teaching on Conscience ................................................... 73
3.1. Synderesis .................................................................................................... 73
3.1.1. Synderesis as a natural habit ............................................................. 73
3.1.1.1. Summa theologiae ............................................................... 75
3.1.1.2. Quaestiones disputatae De veritate .................................... 81
3.1.1.3. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum ................................... 84
3.1.2. The functioning of synderesis .......................................................... 87
3.1.3. The properties of synderesis – its permanence ................................. 90
3.1.3.1. Quaestiones disputatae De veritate .................................... 91
3.1.3.2. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum ................................... 92
3.2. Conscience (conscientia) ............................................................................ 94
3.2.1. Conscience as act .............................................................................. 95
3.2.1.1. Summa theologiae ............................................................... 95
3.2.1.2. Quaestiones disputatae De veritate .................................... 98
3.2.1.3. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum ................................. 104
3.2.2. The functioning of conscience ........................................................ 107
3.2.2.1. Quaestiones disputatae De veritate .................................. 107
3.2.2.2. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum ................................. 109
3.2.3. The judgment of conscience and action ......................................... 110
3.2.3.1. Whether conscience is binding in general ........................ 111
3.2.3.2. Whether a false conscience is binding .............................. 112
3.2.3.2.1. Summa theologiae ............................................ 112
3.2.3.2.2. Quaestiones disputatae De veritate ................. 113
3.2.3.2.3. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum ................ 114
3.2.3.3. Whether a conscience is binding in its relation to law ..... 115
3.2.3.4. How conscience binds with respect to a particular act ..... 117
3.3. Summary .................................................................................................... 118
Chapter Four
Etymology of the Terms: “Conscience” and “Consciousness”
and their Usage ................................................................................................ 123
4.1. ............................................................................................ 124
4.2. Conscientia ................................................................................................ 128
Table of Contents 7
4.3. “Conscience” and “consciousness” in modern languages ........................ 130
4.4. Summary ................................................................................................... 133
Chapter Five
The Human Act as the Object of Conscience ............................................... 135
5.1. Human acts and acts of man ...................................................................... 136
5.2. The human act as moral ............................................................................ 139
5.3. The realisation of the human act ............................................................... 147
5.4. The human act as a process and as an event ............................................. 152
5.5. Summary ................................................................................................... 156
Chapter Six
Conscience and Cognition of the Human Act ............................................... 157
6.1. Conscience as consciousness of the human act ........................................ 157
6.1.1. Conscience and consciousness according to Thomas Aquinas ...... 158
6.1.2. Consciousness according to phenomenologists ............................. 162
6.2. Epistemic status of the human act and conscience ................................... 166
6.2.1. Metaphysical and phenomenological explanation
of a distinguished epistemic status of the human act
and conscience ................................................................................ 167
6.2.2. Significance of a distinguished epistemic status
of the human act and conscience for science about conscience ..... 174
6.3. Non-actional and actional consciousness of the human act ...................... 180
6.4. Summary ................................................................................................... 187
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 189
Abbreviations ................................................................................................... 197
Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 201

Introduction
The problem of conscience originates from the experience of morality, from the
fact that at least sometimes we become aware that we should do something,
while another time that we should not do something. We also become aware of
the fact that we have done something good or bad, thus we in ourselves are –
and are becoming – somebody good or bad. This “awareness” of one’s own acts,
i.e. the fact of conscience, requires explanation and it has been explained vari-
ously over the centuries1.
Human being has always been interest in conscience. There has been no pe-
riod in history that did not refer to conscience2. Biblical texts and treasures of
ancient culture discuss conscience. The greatest authors of World and Polish
literature3 masterfully show the “voice” of conscience calling in man, its mys-
tery and complexity. We notice the theoretical consideration of conscience
mainly in philosophical anthropology, ethics, moral theology and psychology.
Meanwhile, it seams that the nature of the root of this problem is gnosiological
(epistemological).

0.1. Subject of the study and its justification
We want to analyse conscience as a specific cognition, i.e. source of knowledge
about something.

1 E.g. the following books include a review of various interpretations of conscience and
the problem of conscience: Das Gewissen, Zürich-Stuttgart 1958; Das Gewissen in der
Diskussion, hrsg. J. Blühdorm, Darmstadt 1976 and P. Valadier, Éloge de la conscience,
Paris, 1994. See also: Sumienie, wina, melancholia. Materiały polsko-niemieckiego se-
minarium. Warszawa, Październik 1997, ed. P. Dybel, Warszawa 1999.
2 See: H. Reiner, Gewissen, in: Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie, Bd. 3, hrsg.
J. Ritter, Basel-Stuttgart 1974, 574-592; E. Schick, R. Hofmann, H. Häfner, Gewissen,
in: Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, hrsg. J. Höfer, K. Rahner, Bd. 4, Freiburg 1960,
859-867.
3 It can be said that conscience is a great and common subject of literature, its “crucial
experience”. Each great author deals directly or at least partially with the phenomenon
of conscience. Let us put the example of the greatest authors: Sophocles, Dante,
W. Shakespeare, F. Dostoyevsky, L. Tolstoy, G. Bernanos, F. Kafka, F. Mauriac,
A. Camus, and among Polish authors – J. Słowacki, C.K. Norwid, S. Żeromski, G. Her-
ling-Grudziński, Z. Herbert, J.J. Szczepański. The term “crucial experience” has been
taken from A. Kijowski. W. Tomaszewska discusses it in Między ideą a rzeczywistoś-
cią. Andrzeja Kijowskiego wizja literatury, Warszawa 2002, 77-88.