Reflection on the Concept of Conscience: a Comparative Analysis of Approaches in Arab-Turkic Islamic Philosophy

Abstract

The concept of conscience is one of the main unsolved problems of moral philosophy. It is of great importance to reveal the discussions about this con­cept until today collectively on the philosophical level, in terms of clarifica­tion the questions related to the source of morality and moral propositions and the subjectivity or objectivity of ethical values. We can evaluate the ex­planations related to the concept of conscience in two categories as etymolo­gical and terminological. While explanations on the etymology of the con­cept are naturally based on classical dictionaries, conceptual explanations are based on classical, medieval and modern Western and Islamic moral philo­sophy texts. The main purpose of the study is to discuss the moral content of the concept of conscience in the light of Islamic philosophies compara­tively, based on the basic works related to the concept in Islamic thought. The main thesis of the study is that conscience is a deeply appealing power that has metaphysical, psychological and epistemological aspects. Conse­quently, we can define conscience as a spiritual force with cognitive, emo­tional, and voluntary aspects