CONSCIENCE - what is it. What does it mean to live according to conscience

To live according to conscience, in harmony with nature - you can often hear such a recommendation, and in general, everything seems to be extremely clear here. But if you try to figure out what exactly this means, many questions arise. Let’s assume that with the recommendations to “live in harmony with nature” everything is more or less clear, although here too sometimes there are various misunderstandings that sometimes do not fit into the head.

For example, a person may claim that he does not eat meat, but in reality it turns out that in his understanding, fish, seafood, and sometimes even chicken do not belong to meat. Apparently they grow on a tree. Therefore, on the issue of living “in harmony with nature,” there are also many misunderstandings. However, in general, everything is clear here - do not harm living beings. The concept of “harm” is also a relative concept, and everyone puts something of their own into it, but we won’t go deeper.

Much more interesting is the question of what is conscience? And what does it mean to “live according to conscience”? Remember when you were a child? It happens that you commit some unpleasant act, and your parents immediately ask a rhetorical question in a sort of stern voice: “Do you have a conscience?” And you stand there and don’t know what to answer. You intuitively feel that you can’t answer “No,” but saying “Yes” is also stupid, because at that age you don’t really know whether you have it, this conscience, or not. And anyway, what kind of beast is conscience? So you stand there, silent, bored... And the angry parent continues to pour out rhetorical questions, telling you something like: “Am I talking to the wall?” You really don't feel at ease here. And it’s no longer time to ask whether you have a conscience - it would be better to get out of such a mess and get away with a couple of hours in one of the corners of your home.

However, the years go by. The understanding of good and evil is changing. And sooner or later we begin to understand at some deep level what conscience is. No, we may read it in the dictionary, and the teacher at school will tell us something about conscience, but this is not the same, this is all, as they say, from the mind. And understanding of conscience must come from the soul, from the heart. And it is at some deep level that we begin to distinguish between what it means to “live according to conscience” and what it means vice versa. This true feeling, this true knowledge is in each of us. You can’t read about it in books; this understanding either exists or is hidden under a layer of our delusions and delusions.

The first time conscience manifests itself in deep childhood, we, of course, do not know that this is what it is - conscience. But we are starting to feel it. This is the feeling when, for example, having kicked a harmless and defenseless kitten, we then feel dirty in our souls all day. And at night we can't sleep. We do not yet understand what is happening to us, but it is important that it is happening.

Years go by... And each of us goes our own way. Someone crushes this conscience within themselves. He kicks her like a stray dog every time she tries to bark at us or bite us at the moment when we commit an unworthy act. And someone, on the contrary, cultivates this conscience in himself, begins to listen to it, begins to synchronize his entire life with its voice. And such conscience becomes a person’s natural state, his natural understanding of what is good and what is bad.

This is not the understanding that is sometimes gleaned from some smart books. The “bookish” understanding of conscience often becomes simply a dogma, and such a person puts everyone, as they say, “with the same brush”... Instead of a conscience, such a person has some kind of bookish-religious formula that divides this world into black and white. And everything that doesn't look like black is white, and everything that doesn't look like white is black. But this world is diverse, and there are many shades in it. Therefore, this position towards him is fundamentally wrong. This is important to understand.

What does conscience mean?

There are several definitions of this concept: for example, conscience is considered the ability to independently identify one’s own responsibilities for self-control and evaluate committed actions. Psychologists, explaining what conscience is in their own words, give the following definition: it is an internal quality that gives a chance to understand how well a person understands his own responsibility for the act committed.

Conscience

To determine what conscience is, it is necessary to note the fact that it is divided into two types. The first includes actions that a person performs with a certain moral background. The second type involves the emotions that an individual experiences as a result of committing certain actions, for example, a feeling of guilt. There are people who, even after doing bad things, do not worry at all and in such a situation they say that the inner voice is asleep.

What is conscience according to Freud?

The famous psychologist believes that every person has a superego, which consists of conscience and ego-ideal. The first develops as a result of parental education and the use of various punishments. According to Freud, conscience includes the ability to self-criticize, the presence of certain moral prohibitions and the emergence of feelings of guilt. As for the second element, the ego ideal, it arises as a result of approval and positive evaluation of actions. Freud believes that the superego was fully formed when parental control gave way to self-control.

The concept of conscience in psychology

Conscience is studied by various sciences: philosophy, ethics, sociology, psychology. Psychological theory is of particular interest to us. Many psychologists have devoted their research to the problem of conscience, but a special contribution was made by the Swiss psychiatrist and educator Carl Gustav Jung.

According to his definition, conscience is the ability of an individual to think critically about the morality of actions and thoughts. This is a conscious adherence to the internal value system. Conscience is associated with the consciousness and self-awareness of the individual, as well as volitional self-regulation.

Conscience consists of two levels: subjective and objective value judgments. Conscience begins to torment if subjective values are violated. That is, what a person associates with himself, what is bad and good for him. If objective values are violated, that is, someone else acts immorally, then a person may experience anger, disappointment, regret, but will not suffer from guilt.

Conscience takes different forms:

addition of reflection;
an affective reaction during the course of mental processes (for example, a feeling of fear that arises in a situation where the situation contradicts the values of the individual);
dreams.

The voice of conscience is not always recognized by the person himself. The internal controller can speak in dreams or hint through worry, fear, anxiety, or guilt. And constant disagreements with conscience, conscious and unconscious ignoring of it lead to neuroses and psychosomatic disorders.

Interesting fact: conscience is a product of the social in man. Animals have no conscience.

Types of conscience

It may surprise many that there are several types of this internal quality. The first type is personal conscience, which is narrowly focused. With its help, a person determines what is good and what is bad. The next concept of collective conscience covers the interests and actions of those who are not affected by the personal type. It has limitations because it only applies to people within a specific group. The third type - spiritual conscience does not take into account the limitations of the above types.

Analysis of conscience

In order to analyze this concept, a consciousness of freedom and sinfulness is necessary. In mathematical language, we can say that a person’s conscience is the difference between those actions that are permissible and those that are impossible for some reason. Quite often, the manifestation of this feeling is associated with faith. Conscience is a kind of internal supervisor who controls the morality of actions. For believers, those who contradict their commandments will be considered immoral first of all.

As a rule, honor and conscience are always identified with each other. For example, the German thinker I. Kant calls this feeling a law that lives in every person and determines his dignity. A. Holbach said that conscience is an internal judge. Only this sense of responsibility accurately indicates how much a person’s actions deserve censure or approval.

What is conscience needed for?

Many people have asked this question at least once in their lives, and so, if there were no inner voice, then a person would not distinguish which actions are good and which are bad. Without internal control, to live a good life, you would have to have an assistant who would guide, give advice and help you draw the right conclusions. Another important point regarding why conscience is needed - it helps a person understand life, get the right guidance and realize himself. It is worth saying that it cannot be separated from morality and ethics.

In Ozhegov's dictionary

CONSCIENCE, -i, f. A sense of moral responsibility for one’s behavior to other people and society. People with a clear conscience. S. is unclean for someone. Do something with a clear conscience. (being confident that you are right). Remorse. Act according to your conscience (as your conscience demands). This act lies (remains) on his conscience (he bears moral responsibility for it). It is necessary and with. know (about something reprehensible: you can’t do that, it’s time to stop; colloquial). And as soon as he had enough conscience! (as he was not ashamed, he was not ashamed). * Freedom of conscience (official) - the right to profess any religion or to be an atheist. Conscientiously (to do) (colloquial) - conscientiously, well. Done conscientiously. To clear the conscience (colloquial) - so as not to blame yourself for something later. In all honesty, in all honesty, enter, eat. - speaking frankly. || adj. conscientious, -aya, -oe (obsolete).

What does it mean to live according to your conscience?

Unfortunately, not all people can boast that they live by the rules, forgetting about this quality and thereby betraying themselves. Thanks to this internal quality, a person performs certain actions, understanding what is good and what is bad, and also knows such concepts as justice and morality. A person who lives according to the convictions of his conscience is able to live in truth and in love. For him, qualities such as deception, betrayal, insincerity, and so on are unacceptable.

If you live by the rules, then you need to listen to your own soul, which will allow you to choose the right direction in life. In this case, the person will not commit actions for which he will subsequently feel shame and guilt. To understand what a clear conscience is, it is worth noting that in the modern world it is not easy to find people with such a trait, since in life there are many situations and temptations when one simply crosses the line. The formation of this quality is directly influenced by the upbringing of parents and the immediate environment from which the child can take an example.

Do all people have a conscience?

Conscience is a mechanism for moral assessment of an individual’s actions, deeds and words. Comparison occurs with the internal value system. That is why attempts to shame noisy youth or call an alcoholic to conscience turn out to be useless. You will not create a feeling of shame if the root of the problem, the reason for the conversation, is not of value to the person.

Thus, conscience and morality differ from person to person. The formation of an internal value system is influenced by the style of family education, development conditions, social environment of development, the state of society, level of intelligence, individual psychological characteristics of the individual, public culture. Conscience is a reflection of a person’s internal beliefs and values, his inner world.

Conscience is different, but all healthy people have it. The same cannot be said about psychopaths. This is what people with antisocial personality disorder are called. Such people do not know how to sympathize, they do not have empathy, they do not recognize the emotions and needs of other people. For a psychopath, there is only himself and his goals. They have no conscience.

Why do people act dishonestly?

Modern life cannot be called simple, since almost every day a person encounters various temptations and problems. Although many people know how to act according to their conscience, sometimes people cross the line. The reason why conscience disappeared is of a cause-and-effect nature. In most cases, a person transgresses his own beliefs in order to satisfy his ambitions. This can also be driven by selfish goals, the desire to not stand out from the crowd, to protect yourself from attacks from others, and so on.

Pessimism and business

The widespread idea of a great leader corresponds rather to the image of a pessimist. What makes a positive person: stinginess with emotions, seriousness, skepticism.

This opinion is true in most cases. Since such positions require the most complete and objective analysis of the situation, and not the construction of illusions.

Resilience to stress is one of the main qualities required in business. A pessimistic assessment of prospects makes a person less sensitive to a tense situation.

After all, he remains indifferently calm and evaluates the information received . And he doesn’t go into shock, which is very productive.

Perhaps a wary and distrustful colleague is not so pleasant at first glance. But awareness and preparedness for any surprises. And this distinguishes constructive pessimists. They will definitely receive a worthy assessment in a difficult moment.

What is a clear conscience?

When a person lives according to the rules, realizes the righteousness of fulfilling his own duties and does not harm anyone with his actions, then they talk about such a thing as a “calm” or “clear” conscience. In this case, the individual does not feel or know of any bad deeds. If a person chooses to live according to his conscience, then he must always take into account not only his own situation, but also the opinions and conditions of others. Psychologists believe that confidence in the purity of one’s conscience is hypocrisy or indicates blindness to one’s own mistakes.

Altruism and egoism

Despite the fact that the environment in which a person grows has a very great influence on him, certain qualities do not always arise due to it. It happens that the principles by which a family lives do not at all coincide with the essence of their child. An altruist can grow up in a completely immoral family, so he has a negative attitude towards their way of life and wants to be different at all costs. He is ashamed of the actions that his parents commit, and if he himself does the same, then his conscience torments him. Charles Darwin called this manifestation natural altruism.

If the situation is completely opposite, then we can talk about natural egoism. Many scientists and philosophers believe that this feeling is inherent in everyone to varying degrees. The degree to which selfishness is condemned from early childhood most likely determines how conscientious a person will grow up. Western sciences believe that children are born with equal degrees of altruism and selfishness, the quality that is most favored prevails.

What is a bad conscience?

The exact opposite of the previous definition, since a bad conscience is an unpleasant feeling that arises as a result of committing a bad act, which causes bad mood and experiences. A bad conscience is very close to the concept of guilt, and a person feels it at the emotional level, for example, in the form of fear, anxiety and other discomfort. As a result, a person experiences and suffers from various issues within himself, and by listening to the inner voice, compensation for negative consequences occurs.

Freedom of conscience

Since the inception of the concept in question, there have been a huge number of different interpretations of this word, but they were all based on general moral principles (honor, dignity, altruism, kindness), explaining what conscience is. The meaning of this word and its basic principles were described in their works by almost every thinker and philosopher.

In the 19th century, such a concept as freedom of conscience gradually began to appear. This gave a certain impetus to moral democracy. The concept of conscience has become something purely personal for everyone. The environment in which a person grows has become decisive for him. Accordingly, if a person wants his family to live according to certain moral and ethical standards, they must be observed and instilled. What is considered wrong and immoral must be condemned, while what is considered good must be approved.

What is pangs of conscience?

When a person commits bad actions, he begins to worry about the fact that he has harmed others. Pangs of conscience are a feeling of discomfort that appears due to the fact that people often set inflated demands on themselves that do not correspond to their essence. Correct internal qualities are cultivated in childhood, when parents praise for good things and scold them for bad things. As a result, a certain fear of being punished for committing unclean acts remains in a person for the rest of his life, and in such a situation they say that his conscience is tormenting him.

There is another version, according to which conscience is a kind of instrument that measures the true measure of things. For the right decisions a person receives satisfaction, and for bad ones he is tormented by a feeling of guilt. It is believed that if people do not experience such discomfort at all, then this is a sign of psychopathy. Scientists have not yet been able to determine why the feeling of shame and guilt may be absent; there is an opinion that it is all due to improper upbringing or biological factors.

In literary works

Strong arguments for writing about conscience can be the plots of literary works that touch on this moral topic.

Issues of integrity are very relevant and are mentioned in many texts by various famous writers.

Some examples of conscience in literature:

F. M. Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment” is perhaps the most striking example of conscience in Russian literature. Having hacked to death with an ax the old pawnbroker and her meek sister Lizaveta, who suddenly returned to the apartment, after this act Rodion Raskolnikov experiences pangs of conscience for a long time, realizing that by committing murder, he killed himself too, stepping over the law and morality. As a result, he comes to repentance and admits to the crime.
A. S. Griboedov “Woe from Wit.” Alexander Chatsky is distinguished by his critical attitude to the surrounding reality, independence of views, and manifestation of high moral qualities. He almost single-handedly opposes the “Famus society”, old views, and infringements of the rights of peasants. He is not afraid to criticize arbitrariness, despotism, flattery, hypocrisy. It is a sense of justice that pushes him to fight the remnants of the past, exposing all its flaws.
N.V. Gogol “Dead Souls”. Chichikov is a good example of an unscrupulous person. The author shows how the character of the hero was formed: from childhood he was enterprising and unprincipled. Having matured, he decided to become an official in order to freely do “not very clean things.” One of his qualities was opportunism: in order to achieve his adventurous goals, he could adapt to each person. However, in the work there are many other characters who, to one degree or another, do not live according to their conscience.
L. N. Tolstoy “War and Peace.” On the eve of the Battle of Borodino, Dolokhov, a tough man by nature, apologizes to Pierre, which surprises Bezukhov. At the moment of danger and general tragedy, his conscience awakens in him. Later, he shows himself to be a decent person when, with other Cossacks and hussars, he frees prisoners, including Pierre. Conscience and honor are of great importance for Nikolai Rostov. He loses a large sum of money to Dolokhov, although he promised his father that he would no longer play cards. This makes him feel guilty. But his father does not leave him in trouble and saves him from dishonor, because of which he tearfully promises him and himself that he will return the money and now will certainly never play again. Subsequently, Rostov will do the same in relation to his father, entering into an inheritance and accepting all his debts.
A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”. When Onegin kills Lensky in a duel, he realizes that he has taken the life of his still very young, frivolous friend. He suffers from mental anguish, which ultimately forces him to leave. Another example from this work is the honesty and decency of Tatyana Larina. Already being a married woman, she admits that she still loves Onegin, but, despite these feelings, loyalty and devotion to her husband are more important to her: “But I was given to another, And I will be faithful to him forever.” This characterizes her as a very conscientious person.
A. S. Pushkin “The Captain's Daughter”. During a snowstorm, a young officer Pyotr Grinev encounters Emelyan Pugachev, then an unknown fugitive Cossack, and gives him his sheepskin coat for helping him get to the inn. Later, already during the Pugachev era, Grinev was taken into custody and was about to be executed. But Pugachev recognizes in him the man who once saved him: his moral qualities make him remember goodness, so he acts according to his conscience by releasing Grinev.
M. Yu. Lermontov “Hero of Our Time.” During his life, Pechorin committed many actions, which he honestly described in his diary, embarking on discussions about conscience. His diary concealed observations of the mind over the torments of the soul. Through Pechorin's fault, the beautiful girl Bela died, his old friend Maxim Maksimych was offended by Pechorin's coldness, his former colleague Grushnitsky was shot in a duel by Pechorin, and he also played with the feelings of the young Princess Mary. All this leaves an imprint on the hero’s soul. He travels, assuring himself that he is bored, but in reality he cannot find peace anywhere.
M. A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”. The procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, sends Yeshua Ha-Nozri to death. He himself does not want this, he understands that he is doing wrong, but circumstances force him to make just such a decision. Subsequently, he suffers from remorse and repents. The only thing he wants is forgiveness, freedom from the heavy burden that has fallen on his heart.
M. A. Bulgakov “Heart of a Dog.” Sharikov, who received a human appearance, but did not acquire human moral qualities, is an excellent example of dishonesty. He does not feel gratitude for what they do for him, abuses the kindness and patience of Professor Preobrazhensky, commits vile and base acts for which he does not feel shame. This means that conscience is an important quality and indicator of humanity, distinguishing people from animals.
N. M. Karamzin “Poor Liza.” The rich nobleman Erast deceives the naive young peasant woman Lisa, declaring his love for her and playing with her feelings, but in the end marries another woman for convenience. Lisa dies from grief by throwing herself into a deep pond. Having learned about this, Erast, until the end of his days, regrets that he did this to her, remains unhappy in his marriage and visits Lisa’s grave, tormented by pangs of conscience.
I. A. Goncharov “Oblomov”. Mikhei Andreevich Tarantiev and his godfather Ivan Matveevich Mukhoyarov several times act dishonestly towards Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, taking advantage of the fact that he is simple-minded and ignorant of economic matters. For example, they force him to sign a document about renting housing on conditions that are completely extortionate for him. They do not care about issues of conscience, they are dishonest, cunning, and think only about profit.
D. I. Fonvizin “Undergrowth”. Mrs. Prostakova is clearly unfamiliar with such concepts as conscience and honesty. She is unprincipled, two-faced and ignorant. Wanting to “get her hands on” the inheritance of the Prostakovs’ distant relative, the young girl Sophia, she is going to marry her off to her son, ignorant Mitrofanushka. For this she is ready to use any tricks and tricks.
M. A. Sholokhov “The Fate of Man.” Both during the war and after it, a simple driver Andrei Sokolov is repeatedly faced with a moral choice, but he is accustomed to living according to the laws of conscience. He finds it difficult to decide to kill the traitor who is ready to betray his commander. Then, while in captivity, he sharply refuses the offer of his enemies, not wanting to betray his comrades for a piece of bread and other pitiful handouts, and steadfastly endures all torture and humiliation. He is driven into a fair fight for his homeland by valor, honor and a sense of involvement in the fate of his native country. And already in peacetime, he takes responsibility for raising a little orphan boy. This is also his moral choice.
V. Astafiev “Horse with a pink mane.” The boy Vitya goes to pick strawberries so that his grandmother can sell them and buy him a gingerbread in the shape of a horse. But he eats the berries with the neighbor kids, and then cheats by collecting grass in a bowl and covering it with berries on top. He soon realizes his mistake and is tormented by his conscience. In the end, he admits to his action, for which his grandmother still rewards him with gingerbread.
M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin “Conscience is gone.” People lose their conscience, after which they begin to live without moral torment, without thinking about their actions. Meanwhile, a drunkard finds the personified conscience, but, frightened, immediately throws it to another person, and he, in turn, to another. No one wants to live with conscience because it prevents people from doing ungodly things. Finally she asks another person to give it to the little child. She dissolves in the child so that he grows up to be a worthy and honest person.

What to do if your conscience torments you?

It is difficult to meet a person who could confirm that he has never committed bad actions contrary to his beliefs. Feelings of guilt can spoil your mood, prevent you from enjoying life, developing, and so on. There are cases when an adult has become more principled in the case of morality, and then the mistakes of the past begin to emerge in memory, and then problems with one’s own soul cannot be avoided. There are several tips on what to do if your conscience is tormented.

There is no need to try to suppress your inner voice and it is best to understand everything in order to find peace of mind. Often mistakes help to draw conclusions to understand important things in life.
Perhaps the time has come, using the accumulated life experience, to reconsider and re-evaluate your own principles of morality.
To understand what conscience is and how to come to terms with it, it is recommended to use the most effective method - repentance and atonement. Many people run away from themselves and from admitting guilt for a long time, which only makes the situation worse. The main thing is to repent and find a way to make amends.

Essay on the topic of conscience, grade 4

Once I got a bad grade at school, but I didn’t turn in my diary to the teacher, saying that I forgot it at home. But at home, when asked how it was at school, I said everything was fine. But that night I couldn’t sleep. I thought how much my mother would be upset when the whole truth was revealed to her. But you can’t run away from the truth, just as you can’t hide from the voice of conscience that has awakened in me. The next morning I decided to tell everything as it is and you won’t believe how light my soul became. After this incident, I realized how important it is to listen to the voice of conscience, which makes us think about our actions and what has already been done. I realized that it is conscience that makes us decent, honest, fair, kind and sympathetic. But it’s not enough to be conscientious, you also need to act according to your conscience.

Introduction

In any society, as in the life of an individual, there are always certain social attitudes, imperatives, goals and projects, expressed in the form of normative ideas about good and evil, fair and unfair, the meaning of life, etc. such social relations in the field ethics are called moral values.

A special place among them is occupied by the categories of Duty and Conscience, which relate to the highest moral values. Our morality largely depends on their correct understanding: our actions, views, assessments. That is why, it seems to me, it is so important to understand the essence of these values.

The category of conscience has been under the close attention of many philosophers and thinkers since ancient times. But at different times, people perceived conscience differently, explained its origin, character and purpose differently.

In the modern understanding, conscience is the ability for active self-awareness, self-assessment of one’s attitude towards the environment, towards the moral norms operating in society.

Conscience, along with duty, belongs to the so-called personal categories of moral consciousness (O.G. Drobnitsky): with their help, general social and moral requirements are transformed into the moral problems of a particular person. They form a moral and psychological mechanism of self-control, closely related to the responsibility of the individual.

In the dictionary D.N. Ushakova

CONSCIENCE, conscience, plural. no, female Internal assessment, internal consciousness of the morality of one’s actions, a sense of morality for one’s behavior. “Nothing can calm us down among worldly sorrows; nothing, nothing... except conscience.” Pushkin. “My conscience has never gnawed at me.” Pushkin. “Burning reproaches of conscience stung him like needles.” Goncharov. “They forgot timidity and sorrow, and drove away conscience.” Pushkin. Peace of mind. Conscience doesn't allow it. Remorse. Put your conscience to sleep. Act according to your conscience. Do you have a conscience? (Aren't you ashamed). There is no shame, no conscience. Without a twinge of conscience (see twinge). • ***** responsibility, without paperwork (·obsolete). Take money conscientiously. Not out of fear, but out of conscience - quite conscientiously. “Work for the common good not out of fear, but out of conscience.” Mayakovsky. According to conscience or speaking (to say) according to conscience (introductory word; colloquial) - speaking frankly, sincerely. “In all honesty, she doesn’t value anyone.” Griboyedov. “Besides a freshly washed shirt, I’ll tell you in all honesty, I don’t need anything.” Mayakovsky. In good conscience (colloquial) - the same as in good conscience. Freedom of conscience (political) - the absence of restrictions in the practice of any religion or in the renunciation of religion. “All citizens are recognized as having freedom of conscience and freedom of anti-religious propaganda.” History of the CPSU(b). With a clear conscience - completely calm. I can say with a clear conscience.