LAW AND SIN be more accurate to say “I have something on my soul.” There is the same difference between conscience and soul as there is between a punch and a fist. The punch is an action of the fist, a thing the fist does. Similarly the conscience is an action of the soul, a thing the soul does. Precisely defined, conscience is the practical moral judgment ctf the iiiiellecr^^^^^tEe Intellect being simply the soul itself considered in its activity of knowing things. Whenever I am asked a question, the answer is a judgment of my intellect. Now the intellect makes many judgments, and conscience only differs from the others by its special scope. If I answer the question “Did Richard III murder the princes in the Tower? ” my answer is a judgment of my intellect; but it is purely a historical judgment, not a moral one; therefore it is not my conscience. If the question is changed to “Ought Richard III to have murdered the princes?” — my answer is again a judgment of my intellect, and this time it is a moral judgment, a judgment on right and wrong. But it is not my conscience, Tor it is not a practical moral judgment, that is to say it is not concerned with what it would be right for me to do here and now. But if the question is again changed to “Ought I to murder the man next door whose manners are so maddening?”— the answer is not only a judgment of my intellect and a moral one, but also a practical one. In other words, conscience is the answer given by my soul when I am faced with a question “What 91