The pronoun

Where does conscience originate from? And to what extent can we trust its judgments? In this very short introduction, Paul Ström reflects on the roots of conscience deeply embedded in history, and explores what conscience meant for successive generations, shedding light on the reasons why this European concept deserves its prestigious position as "one of the Western contributions that inspire pride in the fields of human rights and dignity everywhere in the world." Ström uses examples from popular culture, such as the classic character Pinocchio created by Disney, as well as examples from contemporary politics, and cites works by great thinkers like Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Freud, and Thomas Aquinas to demonstrate to the reader how and why conscience remains a motivating and important principle in the modern world.