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29 Res Publica 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/respub29 and id is 1 raw text is: Res Publica (2023) 29:1-21 https://doi.org/10.1007/si1158-022-09555-2 Why Conscience Matters: A Theory of Conscience and Its Relevance to Conscientious Objection in Medicine Xavier Symons, Accepted: 12 May 2022 / Published online: 24 June 2022 ŠThe Author(s) 2022 Abstract Conscience is an idea that has significant currency in liberal democratic societies. Yet contemporary moral philosophical scholarship on conscience is surprisingly sparse. This paper seeks to offer a rigorous philosophical account of the role of conscience in moral life with a view to informing debates about the ethics of con- scientious objection in medicine. I argue that conscience is concerned with a com- mitment to moral integrity and that restrictions on freedom of conscience prevent agents from living a moral life. In section one I argue that conscience is a principle of moral awareness in rational agents, and that it yields an awareness of the per- sonal nature of moral obligation. Conscience also monitors the coherence between an agent's identity-conferring beliefs and intentions and their practical actions. In section two I consider how human beings are harmed when they are forced to vio- late their conscience. Restrictions on the exercise of conscience prevent people from living in accord with their own considered understanding of the requirements of morality and undermine one's capacity for moral agency. This article concludes with a consideration of how a robust theory of conscience can inform our understanding of conscientious objection in medicine. I argue that it is in the interest of individual practitioners and the medical profession generally to foster moral agency among doctors. This provides a prima facie justification for permitting at least some kinds of conscientious objection. Keywords Moral psychology - Harm - Ground projects - Emotion - Integrity Agency - Professionalism E Xavier Symons xavier.symons@acu.edu.au Plunkett Centre for Ethics, Australian Catholic University, 7 Ice Street, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia 1 Springer