Conscience vs. Devil — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Urooj Arif — Updated on May 4, 2024
Conscience acts as an internal guide for moral judgments, while the Devil, in various religious beliefs, symbolizes temptation and evil.
Difference Between Conscience and Devil
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Conscience serves as an individual's moral compass, influencing decisions based on one’s sense of right and wrong, while the Devil, traditionally viewed in religious contexts, represents external temptation and moral corruption.
While conscience drives individuals to act ethically and empathetically, often manifesting as feelings of guilt or pride based on one's actions, the Devil is depicted as luring individuals away from moral paths, offering short-term gains or forbidden pleasures.
Conscience is a universal concept, recognized across different cultures and philosophies as part of human psychological makeup, whereas the Devil is specifically tied to religious narratives, primarily in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, symbolizing ultimate evil or the adversary.
Conscience operates silently within the mind, guiding through subtle emotional cues and thoughts, on the other hand, the Devil is often personified in religious and cultural stories as a distinct, cunning character who interacts with humans.
Conscience encourages self-reflection and promotes personal growth by pushing individuals toward moral behavior, while the Devil, as a figure, often plays a role in moral tales, serving as a warning against the dangers of succumbing to temptation.
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Comparison Chart
Nature
Internal moral guidance
Symbol of temptation and evil
Manifestation
Internal feelings and thoughts
Personified in stories and myths
Cultural Ubiquity
Universal across cultures
Specific to certain religions
Role in Decision-Making
Promotes ethical behavior
Tempts away from ethical behavior
Emotional Association
Guilt, pride
Fear, allure
Compare with Definitions
Conscience
An aspect of a person’s character that affects their behavior.
His strong conscience is evident in his fair dealings with others.
Devil
In many religions, a supreme spirit of evil and adversary of God.
The Devil is often portrayed with horns and a tail in folklore.
Conscience
The moral sense of right and wrong, primarily as it affects one's own behavior.
He decided to return the wallet because his conscience wouldn’t allow otherwise.
Devil
A symbol of temptation and moral corruption.
He described his inner demons as fighting the Devil within.
Conscience
An inner feeling acting as a guide to rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior.
Her conscience troubled her whenever she told a lie.
Devil
A mythical figure used to scare and instruct in moral behavior.
Folktales about the Devil often carry moral lessons.
Conscience
Psychological construct dealing with the morality of one's actions.
She felt a pang of conscience after cheating on the test.
Devil
A personification of the force opposing the good.
The story uses the Devil as a metaphor for greed.
Conscience
A source of ethical or moral judgments.
Conscience often dictates the hardest choices.
Devil
An icon in various cultural depictions of evil.
The play featured a character representing the Devil, tempting the protagonist.
Conscience
Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's moral philosophy or value system. Conscience stands in contrast to elicited emotion or thought due to associations based on immediate sensory perceptions and reflexive responses, as in sympathetic central nervous system responses.
Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.It is difficult to specify a particular definition of any complexity that will cover all of the traditions, beyond that it is a manifestation of evil.
Conscience
A person's moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one's behaviour
He had a guilty conscience about his desires
Ben was suffering a pang of conscience
Devil
Often Devil In many religions, the major personified spirit of evil, ruler of Hell, and foe of God. Used with the.
Conscience
An awareness of morality in regard to one's behavior; a sense of right and wrong that urges one to act morally
Let your conscience be your guide.
Devil
A subordinate evil spirit; a demon.
Conscience
A source of moral or ethical judgment or pronouncement
A document that serves as the nation's conscience.
Devil
A wicked or malevolent person.
Conscience
Conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
A person of unflagging conscience.
Devil
A person
A handsome devil.
The poor devil.
Conscience
The part of the superego in psychoanalysis that judges the ethical nature of one's actions and thoughts and then transmits such determinations to the ego for consideration.
Devil
An energetic, mischievous, daring, or clever person.
Conscience
(Obsolete) Consciousness or awareness of something.
Devil
(Printing) A printer's devil.
Conscience
The moral sense of right and wrong, chiefly as it affects a person’s own behaviour and forms their attitude to their past actions.
Your conscience is your highest authority.
Devil
A device or machine, especially one having teeth or spikes and used for tearing.
Conscience
A personification of the moral sense of right and wrong, usually in the form of a person, a being or merely a voice that gives moral lessons and advices.
Devil
An outstanding example, especially of something difficult or bad
Has a devil of a temper.
Conscience
(obsolete) Consciousness; thinking; awareness, especially self-awareness.
Devil
A severe reprimand or expression of anger
Gave me the devil for cutting class.
Conscience
Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness.
The sweetest cordial we receive, at last,Is conscience of our virtuous actions past.
Devil
(Informal) Used as an intensive
Who the devil do you think you are?.
Conscience
The faculty, power, or inward principle which decides as to the character of one's own actions, purposes, and affections, warning against and condemning that which is wrong, and approving and prompting to that which is right; the moral faculty passing judgment on one's self; the moral sense.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,And every tongue brings in a several tale,And every tale condemns me for a villain.
As science means knowledge, conscience etymologically means self-knowledge . . . But the English word implies a moral standard of action in the mind as well as a consciousness of our own actions. . . . Conscience is the reason, employed about questions of right and wrong, and accompanied with the sentiments of approbation and condemnation.
Devil
To season (food) heavily.
Conscience
The estimate or determination of conscience; conviction or right or duty.
Conscience supposes the existence of some such [i.e., moral] faculty, and properly signifies our consciousness of having acted agreeably or contrary to its directions.
Devil
To annoy, torment, or harass.
Conscience
Tenderness of feeling; pity.
Devil
To tear up (cloth or rags) in a toothed machine.
Conscience
Motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions
Devil
(theology) The chief devil; Satan.
Conscience
Conformity to one's own sense of right conduct;
A person of unflagging conscience
Devil
(theology) An evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.
Conscience
A feeling of shame when you do something immoral;
He has no conscience about his cruelty
Devil
(folklore) A fictional image of a man, usually red or orange in skin color; with a set of horns on his head, a pointed goatee and a long tail and carrying a pitchfork; that represents evil and portrayed to children in an effort to discourage bad behavior.
Devil
The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.
The devil in me wants to let him suffer.
Devil
A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.
Those two kids are devils in a toy store.
Devil
A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.
That math problem was a devil.
Devil
Hell.
What in the devil is that?
What the devil is that?
She is having a devil of a time fixing it.
You can go to the devil for all I care.
Devil
A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.
Devil
A printer's assistant.
Devil
(India) A poltergeist that haunts printing works.
Devil
A dust devil.
Devil
A barren, unproductive and unused area.
Devil strip
Devil
(cookery) A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper.
Devil
A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
Devil
A Tasmanian devil.
Devil
An endurance event where riders who fall behind are periodically eliminated.
Devil
(nautical) devil seam: {{ngd}}
Devil
To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
Devil
To annoy or bother.
Devil
To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.
Devil
To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy:
Devil
To grill with cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper.
Devil
To finely grind cooked ham or other meat with spices and condiments.
Devil
To prepare a sidedish of shelled halved boiled eggs to whose extracted yolks are added condiments and spices, which mixture then is placed into the halved whites to be served.
She's going to devil four dozen eggs for the picnic.
Devil
The Evil One; Satan, represented as the tempter and spiritual of mankind.
[Jesus] being forty days tempted of the devil.
That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.
Devil
An evil spirit; a demon.
A dumb man possessed with a devil.
Devil
A very wicked person; hence, any great evil.
Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
Devil
An expletive of surprise, vexation, or emphasis, or, ironically, of negation.
The devil a puritan that he is, . . . but a timepleaser.
The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare,But wonder how the devil they got there.
Devil
A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper.
Men and women busy in baking, broiling, roasting oysters, and preparing devils on the gridiron.
Devil
A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
Devil
To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
Devil
To grill with Cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper.
A deviled leg of turkey.
Devil
(Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions) chief spirit of evil and adversary of God; tempter of mankind; master of Hell
Devil
One of the evil spirits of traditional Jewish and Christian belief
Devil
A word used in exclamations of confusion;
What the devil
The deuce with it
The dickens you say
Devil
A rowdy or mischievous person (usually a young man);
He chased the young hellions out of his yard
Devil
A cruel wicked and inhuman person
Devil
Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations;
Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me
It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves
Devil
Coat or stuff with a spicy paste;
Devilled eggs
Common Curiosities
Is the concept of the Devil universal?
While the concept of a figure like the Devil appears in many cultures, the specifics and name vary; not all traditions personify evil in this way.
How do conscience and the Devil influence behavior?
Conscience guides people towards ethical actions, while the Devil is often seen as tempting individuals away from good deeds.
Can someone be influenced by both conscience and the Devil?
In narrative and metaphorical terms, individuals are often depicted as being torn between their conscience and temptations represented by the Devil.
Is the Devil considered a real being?
Beliefs vary widely, but in many religious contexts, the Devil is considered a real entity, while in others, he is symbolic or metaphorical.
What is conscience?
Conscience is an internal sense of right and wrong that guides a person’s actions and decisions.
Who or what is the Devil?
The Devil is a figure symbolizing evil and temptation in many religious traditions, often seen as an adversary to moral and divine order.
Does everyone have a conscience?
Philosophically and psychologically, it is generally believed that all mentally sound individuals possess some form of conscience.
What are the effects of ignoring one's conscience?
Ignoring one’s conscience can lead to feelings of guilt and regret, and can harm one's social and personal integrity.
How do different cultures view the Devil?
Different cultures personify evil in various ways, but the Devil in Western tradition is particularly tied to Christian theology.
How are conscience and the Devil taught to children?
Both concepts are often used in moral education, with conscience taught as an internal guide and the Devil as a warning against bad behavior.
Can the concept of the Devil be found outside of religious contexts?
While primarily religious, the Devil also appears in secular contexts as a symbol of evil or as a literary character.
How is the Devil portrayed in literature?
The Devil is often portrayed as a cunning, manipulative figure who offers deals that are too good to be true.
Does belief in the Devil affect moral behavior?
For believers, the Devil can serve as a symbol of the consequences of moral failure, influencing behavior by instilling the fear of evil.
What role does conscience play in society?
Conscience plays a crucial role in maintaining ethical standards and personal integrity within a community.
How do philosophical views on conscience and the Devil differ?
Philosophical views can treat these concepts as metaphors for internal and external moral struggles, rather than as literal truths.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
