The role of conscience in Hegelian ethics

In the Philosophy of Right, the emptiness of morality leads to ethical life and its system of substantive obligations. The Phenomenology of Spirit suggests an answer to emptiness within the moral standpoint. This is conscience, where the subjective will gives iself content through the immediate conviction that a particular act fulfills its duty. Conscience also has an important role to play in Hegel's mature ethical thought.

The standpoint of conscience is what we might now call a “situation ethics.” Here the subject leaves behind general rules and principles, looks at the concrete situation, and takes upon herself the responsibility of choosing the act which she thinks that situation requires. Conscience selects an act because it is good in some respect, but in other respects the act may appear to be bad or even wrong. Hegel thinks that within the moral standpoint there is no way to resolve such conflicts. Consequently, conscience involves an unavoidable element of arbitrariness. Hegel emphasizes that there are no rules that bind conscience absolutely. Even what looks to others like an act of theft or cowardice may be represented by conscience as a duty (PhG ¶ 644). This gives a positive meaning to the emptiness charge: Because morality cannot provide completely determinate duties, there are certain points in the moral life where the subject's arbitrariness must step in.