Conscience and Other Virtues: From Bonaventure to MacIntyre

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Conscience,฀once฀a฀core฀concept฀for฀ethics,฀has฀ mostly฀disappeared฀from฀modern฀moral฀theory.฀ In฀ this฀ book฀ Douglas฀ Langston฀ traces฀ its฀ intellectual฀history฀to฀account฀for฀its฀neglect฀ while฀arguing฀for฀its฀still฀vital฀importance,฀if฀ correctly฀understood. In฀medieval฀times,฀Langston฀shows฀in฀Part฀I,฀ the฀notions฀of฀conscientia and฀synderesis,฀from฀ which฀our฀contemporary฀concept฀of฀conscience฀ derives,฀were฀closely฀connected฀to฀Greek฀ideas฀ about฀the฀virtues฀and฀practical฀reason,฀albeit฀ in฀Christianized฀form.฀As฀modifi ฀ed฀by฀Luther,฀ Butler,฀ and฀ Kant,฀ however,฀ conscience฀ later฀ came฀to฀be฀regarded฀as฀a฀faculty฀like฀will฀and฀ intellect,฀ and฀ when฀ faculty฀ psychology฀ fell฀ into฀disrepute,฀so฀did฀the฀role฀of฀conscience฀ in฀moral฀philosophy. A฀ view฀ of฀ mature฀ conscience฀ that฀ sees฀ it฀ as฀ relational,฀ with฀ cognitive,฀ emotional,฀ and฀ conative฀ dimensions,฀ can฀ survive฀ the฀ criticisms฀ of฀ conscience฀ as฀ faculty,฀ and฀ in฀ Part฀II฀through฀discussions฀of฀Freud,฀Ryle,฀and฀ other฀modern฀thinkers฀Langston฀proceeds฀to฀ reconstruct฀conscience฀as฀a฀viable฀philosophical฀ concept. Finally,฀ in฀ Part฀ III,฀ this฀ better฀ grounded฀ concept฀is฀connected฀with฀the฀modern฀revival฀ of฀ virtue฀ ethics,฀ and฀ Langston฀ shows฀ how฀ crucial฀ conscience฀ is฀ to฀ a฀ theory฀ of฀ virtue฀ because฀it฀is฀fundamental฀to฀the฀training฀of฀ any฀morally฀good฀person. .฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀. Douglas฀ C.฀ Langston฀ is฀ Professor฀ of฀Philosophy฀and฀Religion฀at฀New฀ College฀of฀the฀University฀of฀South฀ Florida.฀ His฀ previous฀ book,฀ God’s Willing Knowledge,฀was฀published฀by฀ Penn฀State฀Press฀in฀1986. .฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀. C O N S C I E N C E a n d O T H E R VIRTUES D O U G L A S ฀ C . ฀ L A N G S T O N THE฀PENNSYLVANIA฀STATE฀UNIVERSITY฀PRESS University฀Park,฀Pennsylvania฀฀฀www.psu.edu/psupress ฀฀฀฀฀฀ISBN฀฀0-271-02070-9 ฀฀฀฀฀฀ISBN฀฀0-271-02070-9 ,!7IA2H1-acahaj!:t;K;k;K;k PENN STATE PRESS L A N G S T O N .฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀ conscience฀and฀฀other฀฀ ฀฀ ฀฀other virtues H i s t o r y / P h i l o s o p h y / R e l i g i o n This฀important฀book฀synthesizes฀a฀broad฀range฀of฀historical฀and฀ contemporary฀ literature฀ dealing฀ with฀ conscience.฀ It฀ traces฀ the฀ development฀of฀the฀notion฀of฀conscience฀in฀the฀Western฀philosophical฀ tradition฀from฀antiquity฀through฀the฀early฀modern฀period,฀and฀it฀ rehabilitates฀conscience฀as฀a฀useful,฀even฀crucial,฀concept฀for฀current฀ ethical฀theory.”฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀— M i c h a e l ฀ G . ฀ B a y l o r “ ...