Conscience operates as inward self-cruelty, not mere restraint

Evidence

As nihilism devalues values (voiding them of foundation and truth), it lessens the claim and force of conscience both formed and chained by values. More than simply making subjects less conscience bound, there is a cascading set of effects, the most important of which is the desublimation of the will to power. Recall that sublimation of the will to power, demanded by Judeo-Christian morality, includes turning the will against itself. This turning of the will to power inward, unleashing it on the subject, is what Nietzsche (and Freud, though differently) place at the seat of conscience. It is why both thinkers treat conscience as self-cruelty, not just self-containment. Conscience is the formation through which we internally attack and berate ourselves, not only restrain ourselves. — Wendy Brown, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism, 282

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the Nietzsche/Freud view that conscience is the will to power turned against the self — foundational to the desublimation argument.
• XREF: connects to: Conscience can be selectively disengaged without psychological instability; Moral self-regulation is not a fixed conscience but can be selectively disengaged — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3940; Moral justification erases guilt yet leaves intrusive remnants that demand suppression (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Moral self-regulation is not a fixed conscience but can be selectively disengaged #qualifies (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3940
• Moral justification erases guilt yet leaves intrusive remnants that demand suppression #expands (0.80)
• Conscience can be selectively disengaged without psychological instability #qualifies (0.75)