Contemporary ethical theory has largely abandoned the idea of conscience but makes much of the
similar idea of moral intuition. People have moral intuitions that some things are right and others
wrong. On the theological view, these feelings might be God talking to you via your conscience. If
you believe that such intuitions derive instead from convictions based on a priori truths, then you
should still be inclined to take them very seriously. On the other hand, the skeptical, relativist view
would respond that moral intuitions are just arbitrary expressions of your past experiences, with no
import at all for what is objectively right or wrong. Many philosophers have adopted a view that we
can develop our ethical theories using an ongoing process of adjusting our theories and intuitions with
respect to each other, aiming to achieve a good balance that John Rawls called reflective
equilibrium. However, a closer look at the neuropsychology of moral intuitions will show the
implausibility of reflective equilibrium views as well as theological, a priori, and relativist ones.