Joseph Butler Starter – Reminder of Butler from timeline Odd One Out… Conscience Animals Humans Intuitive Reason Innate Selfless Selfish Golden Rule God Wrong Conscience

Joseph Butler ( ) Intuitive Conscience Butler thought that our natural instincts and affections are shaped by reason in two ways: 1.Prudence (self-interest) 2.Benevolence (the happiness of others) He believed that it was the faculty of conscience (or reflection) that distinguishes us from other animals.

Joseph Butler ( ) Intuitive Conscience ‘There is a principle of reflection in men by which they distinguish between approval and disapproval of their own actions… this principle in man is conscience.’ (Dissertation on the Nature of Virtue) For Butler, conscience directs us away from focusing on ourselves and towards the happiness or interest of others.

Joseph Butler ( ) Intuitive Conscience He agreed with Aquinas that conscience could both determine and judge the rightness and wrongness of actions. However, he believed that conscience was activated in situations without any introspection and that It has the ultimate authority in ethical judgements.

Joseph Butler ( ) Intuitive Conscience He argued that conscience ‘Magisterially exerts itself spontaneously.’ He held that conscience gives us instant intuitive judgements about what we should do. He wrote: ‘Had it strength as it has right; had it power as it had manifest authority, it would absolutely govern the world.’

Joseph Butler ( ) Intuitive Conscience N.B. Conscience for Butler is both authoritative and automatic in the way it operates when a moral decision needs to be made. He held that conscience was at the very essence of our humanity and that it had a vital place in human experience. He believed that conscience was a person’s God given guide to right conduct and that its demands must therefore always be followed.

Butler’s View of Conscience Evaluated D.M. Mackinnon rejects Butler’s idea that conscience is a capacity. He objects that Butler gives to intuitive judgements of conscience an ultimacy and an authority that they can’t have. Intuitive judgements vary from person to person and need rigorous appraisal. Further, an intuitive conscience, which is obeyed unquestioningly, could be used to justify all sorts of acts. For this reason, the Catholic Church adopts Aquinas’ position, which gives weight to conscience but allows for error when conscience directs a person to go against the law of God through ignorance.

Conscience: Nineteenth Century Thought John Stuart Mill said that Conscience can either be strong or weak and That a strong conscience needs to be developed. “It is not because men’s desires are strong that they act ill, it is because their consciences are weak. There is no natural connection between strong impulses and a weak conscience. The natural connection is the other way.” (J.S. Mill ‘Essay on Liberty’)

Questions 1 – Tie together the notion of self-respect with that of focusing on others 2 – How can Butler’s view that conscience can never be mistaken, explain criminal behaviour? 3 – How does God fit into Butler’s conscience? 4 – How is conscience that separator between sentient beings? 5 – What does it mean to act immorally? 6 – How does Butler’s view differ from Aquinas’? 7 – What do two A-words do to help explain Butler’s point? 8 – What does D.M Mackinnon have to say on the subject?

Extension and Summary Ext – When finished take Mill handout from teacher. How does this challenge Butler’s view? Plenary – re-do the odd ones out on the mini- whiteboards Now on the other side, form a sentence for each one