ABSTRACT
John Sharp's observation here attests to the continuing preoccupation with conscience into the later seventeenth century, and reminds people of the rhetorical power of the word. Conscience was invoked regularly and often. At the same time, the assertion reminds people of the diversity of views of conscience: the word is in everyone's mouth, it seems. Similarly, Henry Hammond presents a version of objective conscience which he claims accords with its natural primitive simplicity. Further, both John Wilkins and John Tillotson, seem to accept an account of conscience that suggests people's ability to apprehend moral truths directly and presumably unambiguously. Just as the Protestant writers proclaimed that conscience was governed by fixt and standing rules, they maintained that that rule could be apprehended and applied objectively, by measured processes. Thus, the decline of casuistry is largely just evidence of the growing departure from the traditional view of conscience.
