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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (64801)	10/29/2002 10:12:40 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 82486

Conscience doesn't have anything to do with questioning (awareness of ethical aspects to things and a desire to prefer right to wrong can be pursued without questioning, and often is). Perhaps you are using the wrong word? One can have a very great conscience, (an awareness of a ethical aspect and an urge to prefer "right" over "wrong") and one could use that conscience to bomb an abortion clinic. One's overwhelming sense of the wrongness of abortion could lead one to perceive that the "right" course of action would be to end the existence of the clinic. Since you don't like Al Queda I'll use abortion bombers. They have very developed senses of conscience, and right and wrong- you simply wouldn't agree with them (perhaps). They are most certainly choosing to follow an ethical course of conduct as they understand it. You may not agree with them, but if you demand that people follow conscience, some of the time you will get them following it where you don't want them to go. It is the exact same problem with people who do not hold with objective sources of good and evil, they sometimes also go to extremes that are harmful to society. If it were an easy thing to come up with a blueprint for a "good" existence there would be one, and not one billion. I'm afraid your recipe is just a codification of what you think it takes to live a good life. There are ultimately infinite ways to that, I think. con·science Pronunciation Key (knshns) n. The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong: Let your conscience be your guide. A source of moral or ethical judgment or pronouncement: a document that serves as the nation's conscience. Conformity to one's own sense of right conduct: a person of unflagging conscience. The part of the superego in psychoanalysis that judges the ethical nature of one's actions and thoughts and then transmits such determinations to the ego for consideration.