Conscience is a product of upbringing. Discuss.
The idea that childhood is a product of upbringing is supported by secular approaches from Piaget, Freud and Fromm, in inferring the idea that conscience has nothing to do with religion; rather it is to do with upbringing. However there are responses to these secular approaches coming from Newman, Aquinas and Butler who infer the idea that conscience is a voice from God, a God given ability or a natural guide to decision making. This essay will assess both approaches and their weigh them up based on their coherence. * Piaget- learned
Piaget put forward the idea that conscience is learned. He was a developmental psychologist who studied the behaviour of children. He theorised that children go through different stages in their understanding of the world around them, and it is not till the age of 10 that young people have fully developed a sense of morality. This scientific approach is very plausible because it is based on observations, and makes predictions that can be tested. For instance, you can describe two different situations to a six year old, one of which is lying causing a minor consequence and the other is someone causing a very negative consequence. The latter would 'make mummy more cross' for a six year old, because their understanding is that something is bad if it hurts people. If you ask an older child, they would say the parent would be more cross with the child who told a lie. This shows that conscience for Piaget is something we learn as we grow and develop; thus a product of upbringing because it is determined by the rearing practices of a parent that shapes the ways in which they grow and develop. * Newman- contradicts Piaget- voice of God
This theory seems to contradict Newman's ideas. Newman was an intuitionist, believing that conscience is the voice of God. He believed that when faced