Conscience of Guilt vs. Guilty ConscienceConscience and conscience are two words that may sound the same and be familiar in definition but have two totally separate meanings. The differences are shown in the definition and criminal example. Webster's Dictionary defines Conscious as “Possessing knowledge, either from internal conscious experience, or from external observation; aware; aware; made sense." Webster's Dictionary quotes Milton as saying, "Satan had no answer, but was struck with guilt for his own sin." Was it a conscious guilt or a guilty conscience? Conscience is defined by Webster Dictionary as “The faculty, power, or inner principle which decides concerning the character of one's actions, purposes, and affections, warning and condemning what is wrong, and approving and promoting what is right, the moral faculty of judging whether themselves; the moral sense”. Crimes against society, legality and/or morality are committed every day by people. In most cases, unless one suffers from a mental illness, these crimes are committed while the The perpetrator knowingly carries out such acts; aware of his or her thoughts, surroundings and actions. Since the beginning of humanity, crimes of this type have been committed, some of which are considered minor, while others have gone down in history as heinous. , misunderstood and legendary. An example is Charles Manson; almost anyone can tell you that they have heard of him and have some knowledge of the crimes he was accused of, even though these events occurred in the late 1960s. The crime was horrific and left the population in disbelief that anyone could act or participate in such cruelty. Aware of the crimes he was accused of, Charles Manson is quoted as saying; "Maybe I was...... halfway......n I was raised; rules I wasn't afraid of. The guidelines weren't valued, I laugh and scoff... My parents tried. Habitual rebellious acts, Broken family morals, The young mind just reacts, Without a symbolic thought... My parents have tried and I close the door dead. Abused prosperity may abound. Currents of reality tend to overflow. Driven by the gravity of life, I am left naked and found. "Given these examples, of conscious guilt without conscience apparently guilty , you can see that although the two words are very similar in sound and definition, they are very separate between the two. Works Cited Webster Dictionary