Difference Between Conscious and Conscience

The main difference between conscious and conscience is that conscious is an adjective referring to one’s awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc., but conscience is a noun referring to one’s awareness of right and wrong

Conscious and conscience are two words related to the mind. Despite their similarities in appearance and meaning, there is a distinct difference between conscious and conscience.

Key Areas Covered

1. What Does Conscious Mean
     – Definition, Meaning, Characteristics, Examples
2. What Does Conscience Mean
     – Definition, Meaning, Characteristics, Examples
3. What are the Similarities Between Conscious and Conscience
     – Outline of Common Features
4. What is the Difference Between Conscious and Conscience
     – Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

Conscience, Conscious

Conscious – Definition, Meaning, Characteristics, Examples

Conscious is an adjective and means “aware of and responding to one’s surroundings.”  To be more specific, it refers to one’s awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc. Moreover, the adjective conscious comes from the Latin word with the meaning ‘aware’ or ‘knowing’. When you are conscious, you know what’s happening around you. For example, when you are sleeping, you are not conscious.  Unconscious is the opposite of conscious; it means, unaware of one’s surroundings. Furthermore, the noun form of conscious is consciousness.

Let’s now look at some example sentences containing this adjective:

He was conscious and alert when he was admitted to the hospital.

The patient was conscious but was unable to move his body.

Halfway through the street, she became conscious that she was being followed.

Roark was conscious of his faults, but he refused to change his ways.

Nadia was barely conscious when they came into her room.

Conscience – Definition, Meaning, Characteristics, Examples

Conscience is a noun that refers to a persons’ moral sense of right and wrong, acting as a guide to an individual’s behavior. In other words, it is your conscience that tells you the difference between right and wrong. Conscience is an inner voice that helps you to do the right thing in certain situations. It is also what makes you feel guilt or remorse when you do something against your own moral code.

In some cartoons that you’ve watched as a child, you may remember an angel and devil pair that whispers into a certain person’s ear. It is actually a portrayal of conscience, i.e., good vs bad.

Example Sentences

She still has a guilty conscious of her actions.

You should decide what you should do according to your conscience.

In good conscience, I could not allow this situation to continue.

I didn’t want it on my conscience, so I told them the truth.

You must listen to your conscience before taking any action.

His lack of conscience made him a very good assassin. 

Similarities Between Conscious and Conscience

• Both conscious and conscience are related to the mind. 
• Moreover, both words indicate an awareness – conscious is awareness about one’s surrounding while conscience is about right and wrong.
• In addition to that, these words are pronounced similarly; this is why many people tend to use them interchangeably. 

Difference Between Conscious and Conscience

Definition

Conscious means aware of and responding to one’s surroundings, whereas conscience is a person’s moral sense of right and wrong, acting as a guide to an individual’s behaviour.

Awareness

Consciousness (the noun form of conscious) is an awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc., whereas conscience is an awareness of right and wrong, which acts as a moral compass.

Grammatical Category

Conscious is an adjective, whereas conscience is a noun.

Conclusion

Both conscious and conscience have to do with your mind. The main difference between conscious and conscience is that conscious is an adjective referring to one’s awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc., whereas conscience a noun referring to one’s awareness of right and wrong

Image Courtesy:

1. “954818” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “Dog’s guardian angel” By Gaspirtz – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia