[mseebach]

That is of course a big philosophical question. But in lieu of diving into that, because Wikipedia says so:

Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes 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.[1] 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.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscience

[gregsq]

Wrong word. Consciousness, not conscience.

[mseebach]

D'oh. Of course.

[gregsq]

Yeah. Simple single sentence from me which doesn't do your comment justice.

The connection between consciousness as an idea expressed by this declaration, and general extant environment is an interesting philosophical pursuit. I didn't think conscience so much, as an anterior attribute. But apologies if I appeared curt. I need practice.

[mseebach]

No offence taken. Sometimes someone (me) is just wrong, and it shouldn't be unacceptable to point that out in so many words. Conscience and consciousness, despite the common root, just doesn't mean the same thing.