The Development of Conscience (Leaving Cert Religious Education): Revision Notes
The development of conscience
Overview of conscience development
The way our conscience develops follows a clear pattern that mirrors how we grow morally. This process can be understood through several distinct stages, each showing how our sense of right and wrong evolves from childhood into adulthood.
Understanding conscience development helps us recognise why people from different backgrounds may have varying moral perspectives, and why moral education is so crucial during childhood.
Early childhood stage (birth to 6 years)
The blank moral canvas
Philosopher John Locke described children as being born as a "blank moral canvas". This means that when we are born, we have no pre-existing moral understanding or conscience. Instead, our moral compass and conscience form based on our experiences in the world around us.
Pleasure and pain motivation
During the first six years of life, children's behaviour is driven primarily by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. They act based on:
- The desire to get what they want
- The urge to avoid what they dislike
Children quickly learn that certain behaviours, like crying, can help them get their own way. However, this is not true conscience at work - it's simply a response to immediate desires and consequences.
No conscience present
When we examine this early behaviour objectively, it becomes clear that no genuine conscience is operating. Children at this stage cannot yet distinguish between right and wrong in a moral sense - they simply respond to what feels good or bad for them personally.
Critical Point: Before age 6, what appears to be moral behaviour is actually just responses to pleasure and pain. True moral conscience has not yet developed.
From 6 years onwards
Understanding rules and boundaries
Around age six, significant changes begin in how children approach moral behaviour. They start to:
- Follow rules set by parents and guardians
- Understand the boundaries that adults establish
- Recognise where these rules come from
- Identify the values that support these boundaries
This marks the beginning of true moral awareness, as children move beyond simple pleasure-seeking to understanding that rules have deeper purposes.
The development of mirrored conscience
What is mirrored conscience?
As children continue to grow, many develop what is called a "mirrored conscience". This means they reflect or copy the moral beliefs of those around them, particularly their parents and other influential people in their lives.
How mirroring works
Rather than developing completely independent moral thinking, people often:
- Absorb the beliefs about right and wrong from those around them
- Assimilate other people's moral tendencies into their own thinking
- Become similar to their community from a conscience perspective
This process is similar to how people develop accents - just as our way of speaking reflects where we come from, our conscience reflects our community and the people who raised us.
Continuing into adulthood
Interestingly, while we might expect that moral maturity would lead to developing our own unique conscience, research suggests the opposite often happens. We continue to mirror the moral perspectives of those around us throughout our lives, rather than creating entirely original moral frameworks.
Theoretical connections
Lawrence Kohlberg's moral development theory
The development of conscience closely parallels Lawrence Kohlberg's theories about how moral reasoning develops. Both approaches recognise that moral understanding progresses through distinct stages as we grow.
Sigmund Freud's behaviour theory
This understanding of conscience development aligns with Sigmund Freud's ideas about human behaviour. Freud suggested that our environment and the nurturing community where we grow up have more influence on our development than our biological nature.
Nature vs nurture
The development of conscience demonstrates that "nurture overpowers nature". Our moral understanding comes more from our experiences and community than from any inborn moral instincts.
Key Insight: Environmental factors and community influences shape our moral development far more than any biological predispositions we might have.
Key Points to Remember:
- Children are born as a "blank moral canvas" with no existing conscience
- Before age 6, behaviour is motivated by pleasure and pain, not true moral understanding
- From age 6 onwards, children begin to understand rules, boundaries, and the values behind them
- Most people develop a "mirrored conscience" that reflects their community and influential people in their lives
- Our environment and nurturing community shape our conscience more than our biological nature