In the strict sense, now rarely met, conscience is the receptivity of the human soul to a higher law, a divine law. Conscience has its source above politics, and for this reason it is taken to be authoritative in politics. A man who acts on conscience is guided by a principle higher than his interest, a principle above himself, above his own group or party or country.
Such a person is raised by his transcendent principle above those who do not follow conscience, not for his own sake, not necessarily by his own choice, but for the sake of the principle and ultimately sake of the source of the principle, God. Conscience taken strictly restores the exclusiveness of a principle with a vengeance. It implies not the existence of a common good accommodating the interests of all but rather a communion of those who live according to conscience, which may be hostile to or forgiving of those who do not.
But, whether hostile or forgiving, this communion does not accept a plurality of principles; it cannot agree that its principle is a part of the truth to complemented by other parts, or an exaggeration of the truth to be offset by contrary exaggerations. It can be objected that there are many conceptions of conscience, of which this is most extreme. But if this conception seems strange and obsolete today, then this is the very problem to which I call attention.
Harvey C. Mansfield, Machiavelli's Virtue; chapter I pp.80-81 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)
Friday 3 September 2004
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4 comments:
Quaere: Can conscience and atheism co-exist?
Why not? However, a person's will, mentality, education, IQ, EQ and whatever-Q plays a significant part, i believe. In certain cases it won't be a prob, but in some, there is no way it will work.
eh...actually, i couldn't understand much of the cheem english...there's a reason why i fail english in sec school...=P
What about love? Doing things just because they love someone (not talking about BGR, more on kinship) eg. People williing to save their kins through transplants. (not talking about our celebrity pair) what selfish purpose is there? Taking care of your child, nurturing him/her even though there is no guarentee he/she will repay us parents. Respect for the elders, for what they have done in their past (not about fear).
We may be 'animals', but we do not have to behave like one. Even so, how did the human race flourish if everyone's selfish? there must be some 'herd mentality' within us as well, similar to that of deers and other animals to protect themselves against other predators, and yet, everyone shares the grass. Lions don't eat their calfs when they are hungry (okay when they are really really hungry, you won't know) Worker ants don't sit down and stop working, they work for the good of the community.
Yet again, herds attack others for more food. There is bound to be some selfishness to survive. But within your own herd, your race, your religion?
DEFINITION:
1: concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others
2 : arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others (a selfish act)
Maybe there is another word for it, but not selfish, since there is no detriment to the others involved?
The world is a nice place, filled with love. So MAYBE, that's how the world works.
Yea, i did my module on Evolution Algorithm too. It didn't give me any picture of the past, but it showed how evolution MAY have worked till now. I've seen evolution worked right in my face, and it's not exactly pretty. Many mutations are far from the "answer". So did humans pop out from there? Since we have 2 headed snakes and all, i guess. You keep guessing too. =)
So yar, i wanted to see whether it's really truly 'selfish'. Anyway, the word i was emphasising was "excessive"...i always thought it meant regardless of anyone else. Any literature teachers with the right word? 'i'm curious....'*grin*
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