The Likeness of Conscience. Guilt, Duty, and Ethical Misunderstandings

The book by contemporary philosopher, PhD, and professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Georgy Chernavin is dedicated to the phenomenon of "the likeness of conscience": false and/or misguided conscience. The author presents the concept of "the likeness of conscience" – a parasitic form of the inner voice that nourishes a neurotic sense of guilt and whispers demands of an inherited duty. The theme is revealed through the lens of classical Russian literature (Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Shklovsky, etc.), as well as with reference to medieval typologies of conscience and the developments of this topic in Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Kolnai. The research is accompanied by a discussion with contemporary Russian philosophers.