synderesis
Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- noun The supposed inate ability of the human mind to realise the basic principles of ethics and morals.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A technical term of the scholastic philosophy, signifying the innate principle in the moral consciousness of every man, which directs him to good and restrains him from evil.
Examples
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Whence 'synderesis' is said to incite the good, and to murmur at evil, inasmuch as through first principles we proceed to discover, and judge of what we have discovered.
Matt J. Rossano: Thomas Aquinas: Saint of Evolutionary Psychologist?
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That human faculty for discovering the truth was called synderesis by St. Paul, a term found also in Plato's Timaeus.
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Whenever a person formulates what is to be done in some circumstance, this is an exercise of conscience, which has determined proper action from the principles of synderesis.
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Just as there is a certain natural habit of the soul whereby it knows the principles of speculative science, which we call the understanding of the principles, so too in the soul is there a certain natural habit of the first principles of actions, which are the natural principles of natural law; and this habit pertains to synderesis and exists in no other power than reason.
Note
The word 'synderesis' ultimately comes from a Greek root meaning 'to guard, keep.
