With guilt there arises indeed a sort of demand which can be called scrupulosity and whose ambiguous character is extremely interesting. A scrupulous consciousness is a delicate consciousness, a precise consciousness, enamored of increasing perfection… This atomization of the law into a multitude of commandments entails an endless ‘juridization’ of action and a quasi-obsessional ritualization of daily life… With it we enter into the hell of guilt, such as St. Paul described it: the law itself becomes a source of sin.

With guilt there arises indeed a sort of demand which can be called scrupulosity and whose ambiguous character is extremely interesting. A scrupulous consciousness is a delicate consciousness, a precise consciousness, enamored of increasing perfection… This atomization of the law into a multitude of commandments entails an endless ‘juridization’ of action and a quasi-obsessional ritualization of daily life… With it we enter into the hell of guilt, such as St. Paul described it: the law itself becomes a source of sin.

– Paul Ricœur –

The Conflict of Interpretations

© License assigned to YouCanQuoteME. License CC BY-NC 4.0

📲 Copy this QR code to share the phrase wherever you want