"Every judgement of conscience, be it right or wrong, be it about things evil in themselves or morally indifferent, is obligatory, in such wise that he who acts against his conscience always sins"
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Aquinas doesn’t sentimentalize conscience; he weaponizes it. In a single sweep, he binds the believer to an inner verdict even while admitting that verdict can be mistaken. The sting is in the double clause: “be it right or wrong” and “evil in themselves or morally indifferent.” He’s not talking about grand crimes alone, but about the gray-zone minutiae where people love to plead confusion. Aquinas closes that escape hatch. If you think it’s wrong and do it anyway, the moral failure isn’t primarily the act; it’s the willed betrayal of what you take to be true.
The subtext is institutional as much as spiritual. Medieval Christianity depended on forming moral agents, not just policing behavior. This line makes conscience a kind of internal magistrate: even if external authority is absent, the self is still under law. Yet Aquinas also smuggles in a discipline program. Because erroneous conscience still “obliges,” ignorance becomes dangerous. You’re responsible not only for choosing well, but for training your conscience so it judges well. That’s a powerful incentive to seek instruction, confess, submit to moral formation - all central to a 13th-century Church that saw itself as custodian of both doctrine and daily ethics.
Context matters: Aquinas is stitching Aristotelian moral psychology (habits, reason, deliberate choice) into Christian theology. Conscience here isn’t a vibe; it’s reason applying knowledge to action. The line lands because it reverses a modern instinct: we treat “following your conscience” as authenticity. Aquinas treats it as accountability. Even your inner exceptions clause can indict you.
The subtext is institutional as much as spiritual. Medieval Christianity depended on forming moral agents, not just policing behavior. This line makes conscience a kind of internal magistrate: even if external authority is absent, the self is still under law. Yet Aquinas also smuggles in a discipline program. Because erroneous conscience still “obliges,” ignorance becomes dangerous. You’re responsible not only for choosing well, but for training your conscience so it judges well. That’s a powerful incentive to seek instruction, confess, submit to moral formation - all central to a 13th-century Church that saw itself as custodian of both doctrine and daily ethics.
Context matters: Aquinas is stitching Aristotelian moral psychology (habits, reason, deliberate choice) into Christian theology. Conscience here isn’t a vibe; it’s reason applying knowledge to action. The line lands because it reverses a modern instinct: we treat “following your conscience” as authenticity. Aquinas treats it as accountability. Even your inner exceptions clause can indict you.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
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