Day 30 – Q 2. Do decisions driven by conscience always lead to ethical ends? Examine
2. Do decisions driven by conscience always lead to ethical ends? Examine.
क्या विवेक द्वारा संचालित निर्णय हमेशा नैतिक होते हैं? जांच करें।
Introduction
- In the Kantian view, conscience is conceived of as an inner court. it is moral self-awareness that allows to apply the moral law suggested by practical reason to our moral conduct, and to judge whether we have complied with the moral law.
- While for some other thinkers, the concept of conscience does not bear any connection with any particular substantial moral view. The voice of conscience might suggest different principles and different behaviors to different people. In other words, there is no psychological or conceptual relation between conscience and any particular moral belief.
Body
- The independence of the notion of conscience from any substantial moral content can be understood in three senses.
- First, conscience is a pluralistic notion. To say that a person acted with conscience or that something violates someone’s conscience does not entail anything about what this act consists of or what this person’s moral or ethical values are. Although it might tell us that conscience is itself a value this person holds dear.
- To use a metaphor, conscience is like an empty box that can be filled with any type of moral content.
- For example, while some health practitioners raise “conscientious” objection to abortion and refuse to provide the service, someone’s conscience might demand the exact opposite, i.e., to perform abortions in order to respect what is conscientiously believed to be a woman’s right.
- Second, conscience is typically a morally or ethically neutral concept. Appealing to conscience does not usually add anything to the moral justification of any particular conduct or principle.
- For example, the morality of abortion has nothing to do with abortion being conscientiously opposed by some health practitioners or conscientiously supported by others.
- Finally, conscience only concerns the subjective dimension of ethics. There are ethical values that can be considered objective, conscience only refers to what individuals believe, independently of any external, objective proof or justification. And when people state what they subjectively and conscientiously believe, they acknowledge that other people might, and probably will, subjectively and conscientiously hold different moral views.
Conclusion
These three aspects related to the independence of conscience from particular substantial ethical views explain why appeals to conscience to justify one’s decisions are usually made with the expectation that no further reason for the decision in question be required. Therefore it can be concluded that decisions driven by conscience may or may not lead to ethical ends.
Best Answer: Disha
