I have one more consolation: conscience of a child in the humanity is like an essence in a seed. And without this essence, a seed does not germinate and grow. (BG, 2015, p. 168) Discussed through defining in various forms by many philosophers until today, the concept of “conscience” appears with the descriptions as a “warning voice” by philosophers of antiquity, “voice of God”, which is in every individual in Mediaeval scholastic philosophy, and “a human-specific mental competence or morality sense” after the age of enlightenment. In the works of Cengiz Aytmatov whose language is universal and has a philosophical perspective and wrote by putting the “conscience of humanity” in the centre, “the concept of conscience” is reflected through different identities and individuals. Taking solace in “conscience of a child” in the humanity, Aytmatov likened conscience to the “essence” in a seed and stated that without this essence, a seed does not germinate and grow. This study discusses the concept of “conscience” that we consider through the works of Aytmatov making a reference from the “conscience of a child” to the “conscience of humanity” and then to the whole “conscience of universe” and the factors that we can explain through this concept.

Anahtar Kelimeler
Conscience, Aytmatov, novel, humanity, child.