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Joseph Butler's Conscience: Ethics, Self-Love, and Benevolence in Moral Decision Making

Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham and advocate of natural theology, explored the concept of conscience as a guiding force in moral decisions. Emphasizing self-love and love of others (benevolence), Butler posited that conscience directs individuals to prioritize the interests of others over selfish desires. He argued for the intuitive nature of conscience, viewing it as a divine gift. However, Butler’s hypothesis faces challenges, particularly in historical contexts where people appear to choose evil over good. This raises concerns about the reliability and authority of conscience in ethical judgment.

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Joseph Butler's Conscience: Ethics, Self-Love, and Benevolence in Moral Decision Making

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  1. A2 Religious Ethics Revision Conscience 2

  2. JOSEPH BUTLER (1692 - 1752)

  3. Joseph Butler was Bishop of Durham from 1750 and a supporter of ‘natural theology’ – a system of theology based on reason alone, without the support of revelation

  4. Butler argued that the conscience is the means by which an individual makes a moral decision

  5. Butler Every human being has the ability to reflect on moral issues, and they have an awareness of two basic, and possibly conflicting, principles, • self-love and • love of others (benevolence)

  6. Butler Conscience directs us towards • concentrating on the interests of others and • away from love of self

  7. Butler People do not normally choose to do evil

  8. Butler Rather, they pursue their own interests or cause with which they identify evil is a by-product of this.

  9. Problem! Butler’s hypothesis appears to have been proved wrong in the events of recent history, in which people quite clearly appear to have chosen evil over good

  10. Ian Huntley & Maxine Carr (the Soham murders) Peter and Rosemary West Peter Sutcliffe (The Yorkshire Ripper)

  11. SELF-LOVE The desire for happiness for the self It is not a passion or emotional response, nor is it merely instinctive

  12. SELF-LOVE Is when a person ‘can reflect upon themselves, and their own interest or happiness, so as to have that interest an object to their minds’

  13. BENEVOLENCE The desire for the happiness of others (altruism)

  14. Conscience ‘adjudicates’ between these two interests

  15. It behaves as a guide a gift from God to show the way towards the good

  16. Because it is from God, it should be obeyed without question

  17. It has universal authority in all moral judgements

  18. How do we know it? Through INTUITION

  19. The mind is able to perceive abstract concepts or truths normally believed to be beyond empirical experience

  20. What Butler believed While Aquinas argued that conscience was the ‘voice of reason Butler stated that conscience derived from intuition

  21. What Butler believed Individuals make moral decisions without any thought to the sanctions of an external law

  22. What Butler believed Man is a law unto himself

  23. What Butler believed The obligation to obey the law is, through its source in human nature, put there by God

  24. What Butler believed The demands of conscience are compelling without any recourse to an external authority

  25. What Butler believed The conscience is self-authenticating

  26. What Butler believed Gave conscience absolute authority

  27. What Butler believed Required that the conscience be followed without question

  28. What Butler believed This leads to TWO problems

  29. Problem One The conscience may be misled or misinterpreted

  30. Problem Two Intuition is impossible to cross-reference as it is given absolute authority (Remember the Non-Cognitivists?)

  31. Problem Two Intuition relates and answers only to itself

  32. Problem Two This could ‘permit’ a person to behave in a way that does not provide for the happiness of others

  33. The End

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