discuss the view we should always follow our conscience when making ethical decisions

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Discuss critically the view that we should always follow our conscience when making ethical decisions. Conscience is what gives individuals a guide of how to act in a certain way when placed with a moral issue. It will prescribe whether an action is right or wrong, and it can have an effect on whether an individual will proceed with the action after their conscience has come in to place. It is a perennial issue, with conflicting opinions on what conscience is, where it is from and if it is a valid source for ethical decision making. Interpretations concerning conscience range from the theological, psychological and philosophical. There are many different approaches that people may choose to believe, most taking a religious or psychological approach. Different scholars and philosophers have put forward arguments for the ethical issue which try to explain what this ‘inner-sense’ is, for it is something that is arguably present in everybody; however it is not always considered when making moral decisions. Is conscience important, is it needed, and why ought it to be always followed when making ethical decisions? Some would argue that although conscience is present, it is not particularly necessary. American writer Mark Twain wrote, ‘I have noticed my conscience for many years and it is more trouble and bother to me than anything else I have started with.’ This is one approach that suggests conscience is not the ‘moral law within’ that many great thinkers have argued that it is. There has never been a common-ground found on the issue of conscience thus it is critical to examine different scholar’s ideas in order to reach some conclusion as to whether conscience is should always be followed when making ethical decisions. Traditional Christian teaching assumes that conscience is given by God; it is a moral faculty within and everyone can, and must, follow this divine
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