All know that it is necessary to live on conscience, and each person is supplied by this internal moral critic. Its absence, but not bravado (I have no conscience or my conscience is pure – I do not use it) always speaks about a mental disease. Ugryzeniya of a certain internal censor happened to test all.
Why people sometimes arrive not on conscience? It would seem, you know as it is correct and wrong, do the first and do not do the second. Live on conscience, and to you it will be quiet (religious option – you will receive rescue).
We suggest to consider what represents conscience what it involves mechanisms in our consciousness what has criteria and why in general it is necessary.
Conscience as phenomenon
For a start we will be defined in concepts. What means and from where the floor conscience was taken that it is accepted to understand as it what functions it performs as it is shown what it consists of and how exercises control.
Word etymology
The word conscience consists of two parts: prefixes with-, meaning participation (community, the commonwealth, an event) and a noun message which in the modern language is used in sense message, but it was in the ancient time used in knowledge value (to know, it is not known, God knows, goodness knows what, the witch).
We see the same trend in Latin option from which the word passed, in particular, into the Spanish, Italian, English and French languages. Conscientia in Latin designates awareness, consciousness, understanding. Conscience in English and in French – conscience, consciousness, high morals. Brockhaus and Evfron's encyclopedic dictionary says that, besides mentioned, similar origin of the word conscience by addition of a prefix with- to a noun knowledge is traced in German (Gewissen) and Greek (συνείδησις) languages.
Thus, the word conscience was formed as a synonym of the word consciousness, that is participation in knowledge of itself. At the same time knowledge of the personality of itself correlates with the developed rules of morals and social foundations of society.
The personality analyzes the acts and gives them an assessment. This assessment does not depend on third-party opinion and is given as acts (deception, blessing, theft, the help), and involuntary reactions (fear, cowardice, anger).
Definitions
- The big Soviet encyclopedia gives the following definition: The conscience is the category of ethics characterizing ability of the personality to carry out moral self-checking to independently formulate for itself moral duties, to demand from itself their performance and to make a self-assessment of the made acts; one of expressions of moral consciousness of the personality. The page is shown as in the form of rational awareness of moral value of the made actions, and in the form of emotional experiences (for example, ugryzeny S.).
- By Dahl's definition, the conscience is moral consciousness, moral intuition or feeling in the person; internal awareness of the good and evil; a soul hiding place in which approval or condemnation of each act responds; ability to distinguish quality of an act; the feeling inducing to the truth and good, averting from a lie and the evil; involuntary love for good and for the truth; the inherent truth, in various extent of development.
- The historical dictionary calls conscience moral sense, awareness and understanding of a human soul of own beliefs and acts.
- The psychological dictionary calls it one of expressions of moral consciousness of the person which is shown as rational awareness of ethical value of perfect actions and as emotional experiences.
In philosophy it is accepted to understand category of ethics which characterizes ability of the personality to moral self-checking, based on concepts of the good and evil, to formulate bases of a moral duty, to monitor their performance, to samootsenivat perfect acts and to be responsibleas conscience.
The psychology understands the subjective quality of the personality connected with understanding by it of an itself to itself, certain individuals and society and readiness to take the responsibility for the made acts as conscience.
Whether you know? The Italian scientists found the site which is responsible for sense of guilt in a head brain. It is the first case of detection of a secret not of the simplest emotions (joy, fear, happiness), and social. This opening will allow to improve rehabilitation of the patients needing correction of behavior.
Functions and manifestations
The main function of this phenomenon is self-checking which helps:
- to correlate the behavior to standards of public morals;
- to observe a taboo;
- not to make certain actions whatever appropriate and expedient they seemed at present;
- to overcome temptations;
- to look at a situation eyes of other person and not to encroach on his interests.
To arrive on conscience – means to observe the public moral principles coinciding with own despite momentary personal interest. Continuously estimating our thoughts, the conscience stops attempts to justify oneself in own eyes, warns and warns.
Important! The conscience gives the chance to coordinate the acts not only in the light of social values, but also taking into account values of other people.
Structure
The conscience consists of three components:
- intellectual – understanding of ethical value made;
- emotional – experience of sense of guilt, shame, a regret;
- strong-willed – compulsion of to arrive adequately, despite temptations.
Therefore, it works in three directions at once – consciousness, experience, will power – helping the person to realize itself as the moral personality.
History of emergence of standards of behavior and control over them
There are moral principles to which the person should correlate the behavior, will understand why they arose and as are formed. The person – the only living being inclined to a reflection, that is to estimation of. An individual personality has own code, is guided by motives, expedient for herself and is ready for satisfaction of personal needs.
At the same time people are social beings, so it developed in the course of evolution that one by one to them not to survive. So far as they are forced to lead coexistence, and rules have to be the general.
And what will turn out: the person liked something, belonging to another, he sees expediency in receiving this thing, but an obstacle is the owner, not the person interested to leave property. The obstacle can be removed physically that quite coincides with the internal code of the specific person, and thus the community loses important, or perhaps the irreplaceable member.
Development of public rules and control over their observance, along with explanations of forces of nature and attempts to subordinate to itself a situation, was undertaken by protoreligions – the cults preceding religious: animism, totemizm, fetishism, magic, Shamanism and to that similar.
If you learn to be an optimist it will help you to get rid of alarms and to make the right decisions in critical situations.
Process of correction of ethical standards is continuous: having arisen in an extreme antiquity, it continues and presently.
Whether you know? According to scientists, religious views arose at the time of a paleolith or the Stone Age 40-50 thousand years ago what the rock painting representing hunting magic, and the accompanying material in burials testifies to. The tradition to supply deceased with things remained to this day – the funeral ceremony is most archaic and conservative from all, only wedding can compete with it.
The religion (both ancient prototypes, and modern faiths and their branches) regulates behavior of members of society and watches its compliance to public norms, for example, in the way:
- education – since the early childhood to members of religious community knowledge, including of the moral principles take root;
- implementation of cult actions of public nature – the religious holidays allowing the actions forbidden or fights which are not approved in other days, for example, in glory of the aggressive deity or the general love glorifying the fertility deity;
- departures of religious practices of individual property – confession-atonement-remission;
- exiles from community in ancient times that meant certain death – derelicts are not able to live alone; or excommunications from the bosom, an anathema during later and modern period that meant at different times: the actual fast death when everyone has the right to kill the person beyond the law, social death when public foundations kept more on religious institutes, and precisely refusal in eternal rescue of soul.
Other control devices over respect for public morals
In secular society of function of regulation of social behavior has the state.
It offers standards of behavior – laws, exercises control – police and judicial functions, offers the system of atonement – penalties, public works, imprisonment, confiscation of property, has educational institutes.
As it works – other question, the initial idea of the state was that. The most strict observer of ethical standards – the person. In case of control over his behavior of other instance: the states, religions, unnoticed offense remains on her conscience, but if the person relies only upon himself in a question of respect for standards of behavior, then and it is necessary to answer it to the most strict judge from whom you will not hide anything. And repentance on itself should be imposed most.
Whether you know? Women are more conscientious, than men, and at people highly educated conscientiousness are lower.
The fact that at a conversation with conscience of people talks with himself, means extreme frankness. It is impossible to deceive conscience. But with it it is possible to reach compromise, to persuade itself that circumstances are guilty of the event, to find to itself justification. But circumstances only give us the choice, and its criterion just and the conscience serves.
In view of the above, you should not consider that the conscience is always right. It is always subjective and depends on a picture of the world of the person, can be mistaken, is not capable to calculate prospect and consequences of an act which can be undesirable and differ from expected.
Whether you know? Scientists of the University of California came to a conclusion that not religious people denying god in everyday life show more compassion and sympathy, than religious. Researchers consider that need of non-believers to answer to itself while the believer important that their behavior corresponded to the doctrines introduced from the outside, but not developed independently is the reason for that.
The person who lives on conscience
To live on conscience – means, first of all, to live in consent with itself. Whether there are a lot of such people? There are not no those who never make offenses such and at all, and those who, having stumbled, are capable to clean the conscience, without making with it a compromise and without deceiving. The people having so developed skills of psychological hygiene are not enough. The majority prefers excessive self-criticism, torture from sense of shame, fault, silent repentance.
All this gnaws the person from within, prevents to live, leads to psychosomatic diseases and self-destruction. Here really there is a lot of such people.
The conscience should not harm, it, like medical analyses, reveals a problem, let already existing. And to treat her or to leave as is – the decision of the patient.
Important! Vpogovorke, saying that live not for joy, and for conscience, means that consent with itself is more expensive, than doubtful pleasure.
However, the internal critic not only abuses for deeds, he tries not to allow to make undesirable action, only it is not always possible to hear it.
At the time of anger, irritation, offense, fear it is very easy, having dumped an easy peel of morality, to show the inside which got from fauna: to be afraid, offend, strike, to shout, revenge, lie, and then to suffer, be engaged in self-abasement, to reproach itself and to regret. But also to forgive itself the weaknesses, deceiving conscience, too it is impossible, it is impossible to deceive it if it revealed offense and identified it per se.
It is very important to learn to keep self-checking in life and to cope with stress sources.
Information on it will remain in subconsciousness and when critical weight exceeds level, psychological problems, and after them problems with health will begin.
Important! The experience of fault which is dragged out in time remains the heavy cargo having effect on health and destiny in subconsciousness. The suppressed fault leads to diseases. The person burdened with sense of guilt can constantly get into the dangerous situations doing to it harm at the physical level. The psychological science explains it with the fact that the fault looks for punishments, and this process can unconsciously happen.
What to begin with?
Having dirtied the conscience an unseemly act, the person has to try to clean it, to exculpate with himself and to get rid of shame.
For this purpose there are several ways:
- Apology: the social tool giving the chance to admit the guilt and to take the responsibility for it. It allows to restore the social relations. As the purpose of apology serves simplification of emotional pain of the offended person and receiving his forgiveness. It is necessary to apologize thus to facilitate soul not only to the offender, but also offended by it. For this purpose apology has to include: clear expression of a regret, recognition that the offense was caused recognition of hurt feelings offended, a request for forgiveness.
- Atonement: recognition of fault with the subsequent punishment or need of commission of kind acts. Represents means of clarification and self-improvement. The person who washed away guilt becomes worthy forgiveness. One more means of atonement – donation on the good purposes, compensation by good for the done harm given not offended, and to someone to another.
- Repentance: a regret about deeds, a request to forgive, revaluation of the behavior and the decision not to arrive in this way any more. The sincere repentance updates and ennobles the person. Further repentant should fasten and call will power not to repeat anything similar.
- Repentance: occurs before god who will forgive if the person renounced former himself which was capable of a bad act, deeply regretted, made in itself serious changes and actually became other person. As repentance is not a conversation good luck by phone, and actually the same internal dialogue with itself, it is impossible to play a cunning trick in this case because you will not confess – will not escape. Unlike conversations with conscience, repentance assumes quite real sentence imposed on behalf of the highest being capable to grant forgiveness – the priest and this punishment to accept readiness of the sinner with advantage.
- Punishment of: conscious causing to harm both physical, and psychological. Cannot be an effective remedy in itself as it is concentrated not on particular cases as positive compensation for a negative, equilibration, and on negative emotions, experience, self-abasement. Instead of correction of a mistake of people harms itself in a double size: the specific actions directed against themselves and not expiated offense which remained to lie in consciousness a heavy stone.
Important! It turns out, what to live without cargo at heart that is – to live on conscience. Never it is simply impossible to soil nothing it, however it is necessary to find with it consent, to exempt from ballast which at some point will become excessive.
Those who cannot cope and such the vast majority, resort to services of the psychologist. Others find a consolation and manual in a bosom of church, without being able to cope independently and looking for supports in the highest being. There are such who solve conscience problems, having resorted to the help of friends or relatives in hope to get a practical advice. Independently the person can almost not deal with the started problems owing to the fact that from within them it is difficult to make out as the stomatologist cannot cure own tooth.
It is impossible to live all life innocently. In it there is anything, and it is necessary to make different, including not really beautiful and unseemly acts. The conscience is a morality criterion.
It reveals filth, and further already business of the person as he will dispose of the gained knowledge. It will be cleaned – well, will be too lazy – filth, it is similar to decay, will expand and eat it from within. The decision lies on a surface – observe psychological hygiene.