Conscience is an
aptitude,
faculty,
intuition or judgment that assists in distinguishing right from wrong.
Moral judgment may derive from values or
norms (principles and rules). In psychological terms conscience is often described as leading to feelings of
remorse when a human commits actions that go against his/her
moral values and to feelings of
rectitude or
integrity when actions conform to such
norms. The extent to which conscience informs moral judgment before an action and whether such
moral judgments are or should be based in
reason has occasioned debate through much of the history of
Western philosophy.