A Study Of Joseph Butler’s "Theory Of Conscience"

"Conscience" is an old ethical concept,but its discussion has been around for a long time.It has been discussed by many philosophers in Western philosophy since ancient Greece.Among them,the most prominent is the discussion of conscience by Joseph Butler(1692-1752).This paper discusses Butler’s ideas on the doctrine of conscience,using his work "Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel and other writings on ethics" as the main text for study.The problem before Butler is that Shaftesbury and Hutchison merely describe the response characteristics of morally virtuous behavior without explaining how moral reasoning is carried out and without presenting a proper theory ab out motivation.Butler worked on the problem of moral reasoning by dividing the structure of inner human emotions into a system consisting of natural human feelings,self-love and benevolence,and conscience as an integrated whole.He pointed out that huma n self-love promotes individual goodness,while benevolence promotes collective goodness.Although the two are essentially the same,it is difficult to avoid the contradiction of pursuing self-interest to the detriment of the collective good or pursuing benevolence at the expense of the individual good.In order to find a harmony between self-love and benevolence,Butler proposed the theory of conscience,which judges the right and wrong,good and evil,of the subject’s behavior.An act of conscience is an act of nature,and an act of nature is an act that brings happiness.The formulation of Butler’s theory of conscience makes it possible for human practical acts,including natural and social acts,to be judged as moral acts.In other words,conscience makes moral judgment possible.This paper argues that Butler’s "theory of conscience" has important significance and value in the history of ideas and in the real world.In the history of ideas,Butler further influenced Adam Smith,Hume and Kant,and enriched the ideas of conscience and moral sense.At the same time,Butler’s principle of empirical grasp of validity,the principle of disproportionality and the principle of reflection imply a shift in the perspective of cognitive ethics,especially the principl e of disproportionality reflects Butler’s exploration of individual and general problems,which eventually and inevitably leads to the raising of the question of the relationship between experience and reason.On the other hand,in the context of social re ality problems,Butler’s conscience thought provides useful inspiration in dealing with the relationship between individual good and collective good,and in preventing moral corruption and dealing with moral crisis.