At this stage of our inquiries we only note the fact that there
are such variations, and assign the name Weak Conscience to
the soul which is but feebly moved by the moral feelings.
The Perverted Conscience. In our discussion of the Dark
Conscience we said nothing as to how it came to be dark. We
used that term to designate the condition of inability to discern
moral relations. The term carries with it no suggestion of the
manner in which that condition was produced. There may be
several reasons for such darkness. In one it is a real, a con-
stitutional infirmity of the intellect — an inability to think
either widely or deeply — a spiritual vision that "cannot see
afar off." In this condition the individual does not deserve
blame. He challenges our pity. It is unfortunate to have a
dark conscience just as it is unfortunate to have poor eye sight,
however the condition of imperfect vision may have been pro-
duced. But there is another case. It is that of the man who
has deliberately put darkness for light; who for his own gratifi-
cation has chosen to call some evil good and has done this until
he really believes it so. This is the Perverted Conscience. It
is more common than may be supposed. The author's atten-
tion was first called to its frequency in conversation with the
executives of prisons and reformatories who stated that a
considerable percentage of the inmates of those institutions
considered themselves the most abused martyrs above ground,



92 STUDIES IN MORAL SCIENCE

and that nothing could get that thought out of their minds.
