National Conscience Month – January 1, 2027

History of National Conscience Month

The word ‘conscience’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘conscientia,’ which means “knowledge shared with others.” Today, the word refers to an internal awareness of a moral standard as well as a consciousness of our individual actions. Conscience may be defined as a mental process that depends on one’s moral philosophy or value system to elicit emotions and rational associations. Philosophically, conscience alludes to the human experience of a “gut feeling” about what ought to be morally right. There are many different definitions of conscience based on factors such as culture, religion, geographic location, and peer group.

The medieval Islamic scholars perceive the concept of conscience to be a component of ‘Nafs’ or ‘self’ which has three categories. The ‘Nafs Ammarah’ is the drive to freely indulge in gratifying passions; the ‘Nafs Lawammah’ is the conscience that directs one towards right or wrong; and the Nafs Mutmainnah is the self that achieves ultimate peace. In Persian medieval philosophy, conscience was closely linked to physical health. Medieval Christian intellectuals made a clear distinction between conscience as a rational faculty and an inner awareness. The well-known 13th-century philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas, held conscience to be the application of moral knowledge to a particular case.

Modern philosophers built upon these theories and achieved new perspectives in this field. The famous philosopher Spinoza asserted that leading a life of peaceful conscience enhances our capacity to reason, which helps us become better in decision-making. Another philosopher, Hegel, argued that only through the right of “freedom of conscience” one is able to distinguish between rational and real. Thinkers since have explored these views and continue to do so.