Philosophy of Conscience in Law

摘要

The conscience of man is a natural law unto itself, irrespective of whether there is an external law regulating human behavior. The link between conscience and behavior is so strong, in fact, that law literally stems from what humans find conscionable, translating into what is accepted as reasonable. The conscience can be identified as an individual judgment where the individual recognizes the moral and ethical nature of behavior and actions. Immanuel Kant defined conscience as that which allows or encourages understanding. Considering that all wisdom and intelligence require understanding, it is easy to see how the conscience plays a vital part in our daily life. In countering the existence of duality, Spinoza realized conscience to be reality itself, from where all knowledge is made manifest. Conscience is defined as "the awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong." It is also known as the superego that judges the ethical nature of one's actions and thoughts. This brief editorial explores the origin and application of conscience in external law and then dwells on the application of this conscience among engineers. Law is a very conscionable matter. Without grounding in conscience, law logically ceases to have justification. If law cannot stand to reason, which has its roots in conscience, then law does not stand at all.