Joe Hoffmann

3/2/07

Conscience is both a POWER and a PROCESS

Mr. Sciuto

Summary

            The reading begins reminding us that conscience is both a power and a process.  As a power it is the places where a person is most truly and purely himself or herself.  It is the place in us where God dwells.  It is in conscience that human freedom truly resides. 

            As a process it is the act of weighing the behavior contemplated in light of the principles one knows to be true guides for right living.  Conscience includes the obligation of every human person to correctly form his or her conscience. 

            There are several methods in using the Power of Conscience to make a good moral decision.  The first of which is the Listen method.  LISTEN is an acronym for the steps involved in this method.  The first step is to Look for the facts.  If you don’t have the facts you need you could draw your conclusions off of false information.  The second is Imagine the possibilities.  In imagining a wide array of choices, one opens the self and situation to creative approaches and options he or she perhaps might not have considered.  The next is to Seek insight beyond your own.  Nobody knows everything, getting input from others helps us increase our knowledge and see things from other points of view.  Next is to Turn inward.  We must use self reflection in order to know oneself.  The fifth step is to Expect God’s help.  We need to believe that god will assist us, especially in our honest attempts to seek the truth.  The last step is to Name your decision.  When you articulate your decision one puts closure on the process.

            The next method is the OPTION method.  Once again this is an acronym for the steps involved in the method.  The first step is to list our Options in making a decision.  Make sure your options are honest and true to yourself.  The next step is Prayer.  Here we present all of our options to God.  The third step is Testing.  Test each option by weighing it against your personal and religious values.  The fourth option is to look at the Information.  Consider the facts of the case involved.  The fifth step is Obligations.  Ask yourself if any of the obligations involved in each of your options will interfere with your current obligations.  The last step is New Options.  As you worked through the process, did any new options surface?

            The last method is the Eight Step Method.  The first step is to Pray.  This involves believing in god and following the teachings of Jesus.  The second is to Analyze the situation or problem.  It is important to ask yourself why the situation exists and why the decisions seem difficult or easy.  The third step is to Evaluate the Facts.  After gathering the facts in step #2 you have to evaluate them.  The fourth step is to List your Options or Choices.  One needs to note all of the options, and also to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each option.  The fifth step is to Listen to others.  We are encouraged to listen to the community voices for good.  The Sixth step is to Pray some more.  At this point, prayer is more a listening of the heart than a prayer for guidance.  The seventh step is to Make a decision based on your new knowledge.  Your decision must come at some point, you cannot delay forever.  The eighth and final step is to Evaluate your Decision.  Once your decision has been made you begin to act on it, take time to stop and evaluate it on the way.

 

The LISTEN Method

            Othello failed to make good and moral decisions after letting his worst enemy, Iago, get into his head.  If he would have followed the Option method the book may not have turned out a tragedy.

            Othello did not consider many options at all in many different aspects.  He was narrow minded in all that he did.  The only options that he considered were the options that Iago suggested for him.

            The next part to the method is to Pray.  Not once do we see Othello pray to God for assistance.  We only see him accusing others of being a devil.

            The third step is testing.  Othello does not have many options to test due to his narrow point of view on the subject.  The only testing he does it to Desdemona to test her loyalty.  No matter what she says he puts a negative spin on it to make it look like she is unfaithful.

The fourth step is to Consider the Information involved.  The only information he considers is Iago’s.  He ignores the information provided from the other characters such as Emilia and Desdemona herself.  Othello doesn’t consider the possibility that the information Iago is providing could be false.  His emotions are driving his actions.  Othello has his faith placed in the wrong person.  Before he became close to Iago he was able to consider the information he was provided with and come up with a reasonable outcome.

Now that Othello is wrapped up in the scandal with his wife he completely ignores his other Obligations.  It seems that Othello has forgotten his responsibility as a General because of the whole affair he is dealing with.  He is not seeing to the duties the council requests of him and his new plan to kill one of the Senators daughters will ruin his fame in Venice.

The last step is to consider new options along the way.  For moments it seems that Othello changes his mind and loves Desdemona again, but in the end, he sticks with the option to kill Desdemona and Cassio.  At times it seems he is so close to figuring out Iago’s lie but always fails to do so.  These new options never emerge for him because Iago keeps him from seeing them.