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The Teenage Dissent of Newman and
Unamuno: Conscience as a Safeguard Against Coercive Manipulation
Kevin B. Fagan, Ph.D.
California State University, San Luis Obispo
Abstract
Teenagers seem easy targets for despotic groups, such as cults. Moral
conscience, however, may be a dike against a sea of despotism. John Henry Newman
and Miguel de Unamuno were giant defenders of conscience in their respective
cultures. Their philosophies and phenomenologies of conscience depict conscience
as supreme in the mind of the ordinary person, though subject to pressures, even
death. This notion becomes alive in the deep religious crisis and conversion of
their adolescence, marked by a sense of personal divine experience, confidence
in final predestination or holy trust, and an ethical commitment. Both men,
however, dissent from their religious authorities and doctrines within an
environment of academic freedom, individual study, and limited coercion. Hence,
the interplay of friends and environments along with personal dedication are
essential to our understanding of the role of conscience as a safeguard against
coercive manipulation, above all in the lives of youth. This article illuminates
these themes by examining the teenage years of these two great philosophical and
literary figures.
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