We certainly make moral
judgments immediately by necessity. Many moral decisions are made under
extreme stress. There is no time to reason out a moral response.
However, it does not
follow that conscience is an intuitive function of the mind/brain. The
conscience is almost certainly conditioned over time most strongly influenced
by family and preschool caregivers. And, per
Robert Fulghum, the kindergarten teacher. It is
ultimately a subconscious conditioning which can be consciously reconditioned
later in life if necessary by training and indoctrination. As an example
military training is retraining the conscience to view "the enemy" as
less than human and therefore not subject to the conscience's morality toward
others in the tribe.
The conscience cannot be
ignored. You can consciously override it but it will feel wrong if you
do. It will also take time and effort that may not be available under
stress. This is why the conscience can be reconditioned with difficulty
as an adult.
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