Conscience

François Chifflart (1825-1901), La Conscience (after Victor Hugo)

Conscience is something that tells people if what they are doing is right or wrong. Having it can make people sad about what they have done. It is the sense of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.

Origin

Middle English (also in the sense ‘inner thoughts or knowledge’): via Old French from Latin conscientia, from conscient- ‘being privy to’, from the verb conscire, from con- ‘with’ + scire ‘know’.

Related pages

• Conscientious objector
• Consciousness
• Guilt
• Ethics
• Freedom
• John Locke
• Morality
• Reason

Other websites

• A chapter on Conscience Archived 2007-05-16 at the Wayback Machine From Parenting For Everyone, by S.Soloveychik, 1986