“Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” – William Shakespeare.
Is it true? Does the conscience actually regulate our behaviour and make us timid and humble as Shakespeare suggests? Does the conscience have the power to make cowards of us? Or would it not be able to prevent us from becoming tyrants? More importantly, does the conscience actually exist?
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘conscience’ as, “a moral sense of right and wrong especially as felt by a person and affecting behaviour (my conscience won’t allow me to do that) [or] an inner feeling as to the goodness or otherwise of one’s behaviour (my conscience is clear; has a guilty conscience)”
The concept of conscience has had a presence in literature throughout time. We particularly find themes relating to the conscience in classical literature. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, we see a powerful scene where Macbeth is shown struggling and fighting with his conscience whilst he ambitiously considers killing the present King and thus claiming the crown. Eventually, in the inner tussle between the conscience and the ambition, the conscience loses.
The theme of the vocal conscienceness is not just delt with in literature, but is a predominant thesis prevailent in all human thought. In Philosophy, ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle don’t explicitly mention conscience,but their discussions of virtues, practical wisdom, and weakness of will form the backdrop to medieval discussions of conscience. From here on the concept of conscience was developed in philosphy. Later on, the famous eighteenth century philosopher Bishop Joseseph Butler made autonomy of conscience the central concept of his theory on ethics and morality.
In the science of psychology, prominent psychologist Sigmund Frued talks about the development and the role of the conscience in his theory. Other later psychologists also use the concept of conscience in their cognitive and behavioural theories.
The conscience is not tangible and it is a complex idea to which different theorists have presented different ideas. I shall not delve into the details of what these different theorists say about conscience as that would be beyond the scope of this paper. However, since the concept of conscience has significant presence in literature, philosophy, and psychology it would be logical to conclude that the conscience does exist. Taki...
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... go back to the quote where we started from “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all”… the conscience would perhaps make cowards of us all, if it influence over us had substantial strength, however the conscience is weaker than that. It is shocking how easily it loses its voice. Rather than controlling us by making cowards of us, it allows us to degenerate into persecutors. Thus, conscience does make tyrants of us all.
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