1 88 Ambiguities of Darwin s Usage. 



not stand in need of such precise definitions as 

 the more complex sciences of mind. Besides, for 

 all but experts, definitions of mental phenomena 

 are exceedingly difficult to frame. Perhaps we 

 may thus explain the ambiguity in Darwin s use 

 of the term conscience. In the fourth chapter 

 of &quot; The Descent of Man &quot; we are told, in the 

 opening sentences, that &quot; the moral sense, or con 

 science, . . . has a rightful supremacy over 

 every other principle of human action ; it is 

 summed up in that short but imperious word 

 ought, so full of high significance. &quot; But in a later 

 passage we hear &quot; of the moral sense, which tells 

 us what we ought to do, and of the conscience, 

 which reproves us if we disobey it.&quot; Further, 

 conscience is described as an &quot; inward monitor &quot; 

 urging towards &quot;one impulse rather than the 

 other,&quot; and again, in the same paragraph, as a 

 &quot; feeling of right or wrong.&quot; To complete the 

 confusion it is once more coupled with remorse ; 

 and the man who has been visited with this ret 

 ribution will, according to Darwin, &quot; consequently 

 resolve more or less firmly to act differently for 

 the future ; and this is conscience, for conscience 

 looks backwards and serves as a guide for the 

 future.&quot; 



No logic, I apprehend, can extract from these 



