A motivating awareness of ethical responsibility.

synonym: sense of shame.

Roget 926: duty, what ought to be done, moral obligation, accountableness^†, liability, onus, responsibility; bounden duty, imperative duty; call, call of duty; accountability.    allegiance, fealty, tie engagement etc. (promise) 768; part; function, calling etc. (business) 625.    morality, morals, decalogue; case of conscience; conscientiousness etc. (probity) 939; conscience, inward monitor, still small voice within, sense of duty, tender conscience, superego; the hell within [Paradise Lost]. dueness etc. 924; propriety, fitness, seemliness, amenability, decorum, to prepon; the thing, the proper thing; the right thing to do, the proper thing to do.    [Science of morals] ethics, ethology.   ; deontology^†, aretology^†; moral philosophy, ethical philosophy; casuistry, polity.    observance, fulfillment, discharge, performance, acquittal, satisfaction, redemption; good behavior.    ... show more