The Threshold of Conscience: A Radical Challenge for Education in Theological Ethics … and Beyond

In this article I propose that the phenomenon of conscience, as understood in Catholic theological ethics, functions as a threshold concept within that discipline. As such, it shares the characteristics identified by Meyer and Land [2006a. “Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge: An Introduction.” In Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge, edited by J. Meyer and R. Land, 3–18. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis] as pertaining to threshold concepts, and thereby presents substantial challenges for education within theological ethics. The article begins by analysing conscience as a threshold concept. It then puts forward a teaching intervention which is informed by threshold concepts theory and other relevant pedagogical research.