A conscience which is both well formed (shaped by education and experience) and well informed (aware of facts, evidence and so on) enables us to know ourselves and our world and act accordingly. Seeing conscience in this way is important because it teaches us ethics is not innate.

How is conscience developed?

One's conscience is formed basically through three processes that take place during the early and middle years, and are refined during adolescence. These are the processes of identification with parents, instruction and training, and interactions with one's environment.

What makes a conscience?

The concept of “conscience", as commonly used in its moral sense, is the inherent ability of every healthy human being to perceive what is right and what is wrong and, on the strength of this perception, to control, monitor, evaluate and execute their actions [25].