Thomas Srampickal: Conscience

The Concept of Conscience in Today’s Empirical Psychology and in the Documents of the Second Vatican Council

Conscience is a central factor in human behaviour, and as such it reflects the complexity of the human personality. Hence its proper understanding requires the contribution of the various disciplines which are concerned with the study of man. In this respect two disciplines which contribute much towards a proper understanding of conscience are psychology, which focuses on the ‚phenomenological‘ aspect of human behaviour, and theology, which focuses on the ‚transcendental‘ dimension of the human person.
Hence, Thomas Srampickal analyses ‚Conscience‘ in the light of the contribution of Empirical Psychology and of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. I whole-heartedly welcome this important and critical study, which has been accepted by the Alfonsian Academy, Rome, as dissertation for doctorate in Moral Theology, and do hope that it will contribute towards a more realistic and deeper understanding of the reality of conscience.

CONTENTS:

Foreword V
Introduction 1

PART 1
EMPIRICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIENCE
Chapter I
Empirical Method in the Study of Conscience 5
Chapter II
The Cognitive Developmental Approaches to Conscience 12
Chapter III
The Identification Theory of Conscience 106
Chapter IV
The Learning-Theory Approaches to Conscience 206
Chapter V
A Comparative View of the Empirical Theories of Conscience

PART II
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE EMPIRICAL APPROACHES
TO CONSCIENCE
Chapter VI
The Cognitive-Developmental Theory 264
Chapter VII
Theories of Identification 279
Chapter VIII
The Principles of Learning Theory 289

PART III
A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE EMPIRICAL STUDY OF CONSCIENCE
Chapter IX
Contributions and Drawbacks of the Empirical Approaches to Conscience 308

PART IV
THE CONCEPT OF CONSCIENCE IN THE DOCUMENTS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
Chapter X
Descriptions and References Relating to Conscience in the Documents of the Council 344

PART V
THE CONCEPT OF CONSCIENCE IN TODAY’S EMPIRICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND
IN THE DOCUMENTS OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
Chapter XI
The Empirical and the Conciliar Concepts of Conscience: A Synthetic View 378

BIBLIOGRAPHY 391

Srampickal, Thomas: The Concept of Conscience in Today’s Empirical Psychology and in the Documents of the Second Vatican Council. Innsbruck: Resch, 1976 (Personation and Psychotherapy; 2), XVI, 410 S., ISBN 978-3-85382-002-5, Brosch., EUR 13.90 [D], 14.32 [A], vergriffen!