A Study Of Thomas Aquinas' Conception Of Conscience

Conscience plays an extremely important role in both secular life and religious beliefs.As a master of scholastic philosophy in the Middle Ages,Thomas Aquinas has discussed the issues of "synderesis" and "conscientia" many times in his works,especially his unique views on the distinction between these two words.However,this issue has not attracted widespread attention in the current academic circles.This article relies on original literature of Thomas Aquinas,starting with the etymological meaning of the concept of conscientia,and putting it into the philosophical context of Thomas Aquinas,in order to make up for the gap of theoretical research on Thomas Aquinas,and on this basis,to have a deeper understanding of Christian ethics in the Middle Ages.Generally speaking,this paper mainly expounds Thomas Aquinas' concept of conscience from the following aspects.Firstly,it combs the theoretical background of Aquinas' concept of conscience;secondly,it defines the understanding of the concept of conscience in Aquinas' ethics,and distinguishes the concepts of conscientia and synderesis;secondly,it discusses the function of conscience,the judgment of conscience,and the relationship between conscience and four cardinal virtue,making it clear in Thomas Aquinas' ethics.Then,as a normative rule,whether conscience is binding or not and how to guide action.Finally,this paper illustrates the theoretical significance of Thomas Aquinas' concept of conscience from the cognitive and practical significance of conscience.