IRRATIONAL CONSCIENCE DERIVED FROM FEAR OF AUTHORITY:
'AUTHORITARIAN CONSCIENCE'
theme: The authoritarian conscience represents the
irrational internalisation of authority and the authoritarian ethics of
'moralism'. It does not represent
the individual's intrinsically rational conscience which is the source of natural human
values and reflective ethical judgement or 'natural ethics'.
"The authoritarian conscience is the voice of an internalized authority such as the parental authority, or state authority. The authoritarian 'conscience' is a fear for the authority rather than a representation of the individual's real conscience, the source of natural value judgements." (Erich Fromm. Man For Himself. 143)
Derivation of authoritarian conscience The authoritarian conscience is derived from the instinctive human need to admire, to have an ideal, to strive for some kind of perfection. Authoritarian conscience is the voice of unreflective ethical judgement resulting from the irrational projection of perfection onto an external authority which is then internalised. The internalised authority is the authoritarian conscience.
For the individual with authoritarian conscience, the "interaction of internalisation (of external authority) and projection results in an unshakable conviction in the ideal character of the authority, a conviction which is immune to all contradictory empirical evidence." (Fromm Man For Himself 146) .
Authoritarian conscience is equivalent to the 'superego' in the of Freud's psychology.
Construction of authoritarian conscience Construction of the authoritarian conscience involves the interaction of two processes: first, the perfection of character is projected onto an external authority - parental, religious or state authority; second, the projected image of perfection or 'ideal' is internalised in the individual's consciousness. Internalisation of the projected image leads to the individual's unshakable conviction in the external authority as the personification of the perfect character. The conviction is so strong that it is immune to all empirical evidence which might prove to contradict it. The individual loses the capacity for rationality and reason and this leads to rigid thinking. The power of fear for the authority replaces the power of ethical reasoning and as a result the conscience which is constructed becomes increasingly authoritarian and irrational.
The irrationality of authoritarian conscience is inadequate for effective adaptation to changes in the social environment i.e 'adaptability'.
Human adaptability depends on construction of rational conscience Human adaptability depends on normal moral, intellectual, emotional and psychological development of rational moral consiousness i.e. 'rational conscience'. Conscience is awareness of human morals - the 'moral faculty' - an emergent property of the human brain. The human brain is a social brain. The conscience is a naturally flexible valuing system which allows for the protection of personal integrity during the process of adaptation to changing social conditions. The word 'conscience' is derived from Latin 'conscientia’ for moral awareness - from ‘con’ meaning 'with' and ‘scire’ meaning 'to know'. Conscience is awareness of the nature of the human personality or 'human nature'. Knowledge of human nature is 'self-knowledge'. Self-knowledge is necessary for rational evaluation of the social environment. The conscience is the core of guiding values prescribed by the various religious and philosophical authorities and sought by theologians and philosophers throughout human history i.e. 'human values'. Human values are values of the highest consciousness state - goodness, beauty, justice, spiritual love, joy, 'truth' and so on i.e. 'virtues'. The virtues have evolved through natural selection as a result of their survival value to the human organism as a social organism. The virtues constitute the human 'spiritual equipment' with which the organism depends for adaptability to the complexities of changing social conditions i.e 'social intelligence'. Social intelligence is a function of 'intuition' or 'creative intelligence'.
Creative intelligence is intelligence of the highest consciousness state and the most effective for social adaptation.
Development of rational conscience depends on actualisation of human potential The values found within the intrinsic conscience of the human organism are raised to the conscious level of brain functioning ('consciousness') during development of conscience i.e. 'moral development'. Moral development involved in the construction of rational conscience depends on realisation of human potentialities for growth, for happiness, for love and for reason and results in the manifestation of characteristically human traits - the natural human values of 'morality'. But the innate potentialities are like seeds. They become manifest in later life only if provided with the right enviromental for spiritual growth and development i.e. self-realisation or 'self-actualisation'. Self-actualisation is a function of growth in the context of freedom from external authoritarianism which breeds fear i.e. spiritual freedom or 'inner freedom'. Inner freedom depends on the security of productive 'unconditional love'.
The authoritarian conscience is characteristic of adult immaturity.
Development of authoritarian conscience In the absence of the right conditions for psychological growth, development is thwarted leading to neurotic development and construction of irrational conscience i.e. 'neurosis'. The neurotic development of authoritarian conscience is characteristic of the immature adult fixated on the 'premoral level' of ethical judgement in child development (classification of Kohlberg). In the first of the six moral stages or 'sociocognitive stages', moral value is defined in terms of obedience to authority and the avoidance of punishment (age 3). In the absence of the right conditions for continued moral development (security of unconditional love) and under conditions of intense emotional pressure (abuse, punishment, neglect etc.) the construction of conscience is determined by the friendly or unfriendly reactions of significant adults on whom the child depends for faith in their potential for growth. The fear of disapproval and the need for approval becomes the most powerful and almost exclusive source of motivation for ethical judgement and behaviour. The individual learns to differentiate between 'right' and 'wrong', 'good' and 'bad' even before learning to understand the difference by way of a process of reasoning or 'rationality'. Discouragement of rationality leads to mistrust in their own persistence for spiritual growth. The inherent potentialites are stifled and they fail to develop into manifest characteristics. The individual develops to adulthood with the deficiencies of 'immaturity'.
The immature adult continues to evaluate the environment in terms of threat to their security and self-esteem. Their sense of identity remains dependent on the approval of others.
Implications for education The irrational authoritarian conscience forms the basis for authoritarian codes of ethics i.e. irrational morality or 'moralism'. Moralism is a system of authoritarian ethics based on the irrational projection of the human need for perfection onto an external authority and the internalisation of the idealised authority. The authoritarian ethics of moralism does not represent the natural and rational ethics of the intrinsically rational human conscience. Development of rational conscience depends on a learning environment which favours its construction through concentration on creative productiveness or 'work'. Work has psychological value in the construction of conscience if it is functional in personal growth and development while involving the development of human potentiality for creative intelligence. The aim of education is to provide the right conditions for growth and development of rational conscience, to provide for 'human needs' which include spiritual needs or 'metaneeds' .
Needs based education is education of the whole person or 'holistic education'.
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