  Re: Conscience  Yes, I'm well aware of the analogy. More recently these have been re-represented as the devil and angel on the shoulders. Physiologically we now know this represents are base survival instincts and our social adaptation of these instincts. We most certainly cannot "cure" our instincts because to do so would be to "cure" being human (or rather cull humans).  He was using the analogy to express the difference between love and physical lust. It is not a case of "curing" but of learning to understand and control.  I begin with the premise of the Great Chain of Being. It connects conscious no-thing with every-thing or fraction of the whole coming into creation at a given level of being. The closer a given fraction of the whole is to the Absolute, the greater its objective value as compared to value being an expression of societal standards. From this perspective objective conscience is what allows us to experience objective value. I'll post a link to the Great Chain of Being so you know it isn't an original idea  I think I know what you are getting at here. Let me attempt to reiterate in a language I find to be more clear ... throughout life we gain experiences and general learn how to avoid mishaps and actions that seem trivial to us in the now (the more instinctual side of our natures) yet over time we move toward some supposed ideal way of living. You seem to be saying this vision of an ‘ideal way of living' is what we move toward? What gives us our sense of moral value?  The Absolute in terms of human life is only ever an abstract concept. Maybe if you're religious you believe otherwise, but sadly I, and many others, do not. We'd just have to agree to disagree at that juncture because I know it's difficult to get someone to accept an idea that removes their "axis mundi" or even shifts it too much.  Re: Conscience  Yes, I'm well aware of the analogy. More recently these have been re-represented as the devil and angel on the shoulders. Physiologically we now know this represents are base survival instincts and our social adaptation of these instincts. We most certainly cannot "cure" our instincts because to do so would be to "cure" being human (or rather cull humans).  He was using the analogy to express the difference between love and physical lust. It is not a case of "curing" but of learning to understand and control.  I begin with the premise of the Great Chain of Being. It connects conscious no-thing with every-thing or fraction of the whole coming into creation at a given level of being. The closer a given fraction of the whole is to the Absolute, the greater its objective value as compared to value being an expression of societal standards. From this perspective objective conscience is what allows us to experience objective value. I'll post a link to the Great Chain of Being so you know it isn't an original idea  I think I know what you are getting at here. Let me attempt to reiterate in a language I find to be more clear ... throughout life we gain experiences and general learn how to avoid mishaps and actions that seem trivial to us in the now (the more instinctual side of our natures) yet over time we move toward some supposed ideal way of living. You seem to be saying this vision of an ‘ideal way of living' is what we move toward? What gives us our sense of moral value?  The Absolute in terms of human life is only ever an abstract concept. Maybe if you're religious you believe otherwise, but sadly I, and many others, do not. We'd just have to agree to disagree at that juncture because I know it's difficult to get someone to accept an idea that removes their "axis mundi" or even shifts it too much.  