1 86 Meaning of Conscience. 



association, through an illustrious name, with 

 evolutionary science, are the ethical speculations 

 of Darwin in themselves tenable ? To answering 

 this question the rest of the present chapter must 

 be devoted. 



The centre of gravity of Darwin s hypothesis 

 is the assertion that conscience is the product of 

 well-marked social instincts and advanced intel 

 ligence. Given these, &quot; any animal whatever,&quot; so 

 he tells us, &quot; would inevitably acquire a moral 

 sense, or conscience.&quot; This proposition we have 

 now to examine. We want to understand how 

 and why conscience is begotten of intellect and 

 sociability. 



Conscience, as popularly conceived, is a term 

 of somewhat vague signification. It comprises 

 intellectual and emotional phenomena, standing 

 at once for the power that discovers and enforces 

 the good and avenges its violation or rewards its 

 observance. It is aptly described, in Butler s fe 

 licitous confusion, as a sentiment of the under 

 standing and a perception of the heart. But what 

 common-sense thus unites, analytic philosophers 

 have disjoined. One school holds that conscience 

 has a purely intellectual function, the recognition 

 of moral law ; another insists it is nothing but 

 feeling, a pain more or less intense attendant on 



