We think of our conscience as part of our spirit or soul…something that operates apart from thought. Our consciences are the little cricket on our shoulder telling us right from wrong. Right? It’s something we feel in our gut and have to learn to listen to.
Well the word conscience is pretty telling–it’s no coincidence that the word science is in it. Science, you see, literally means “knowledge” in Latin. And con means “with.” So conscience literally means “with knowledge.” Common use applied it to that knowledge within oneself, a meaning that moved into Old French and from there to Old English.
So it’s not separate from our intellect–in fact, I would say it’s something that binds our intellect to our spirit, and to our will.
Although hey, if you need a cricket to help you out… 😉
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.