Abstract
If I am not mistaken, our cultural baggage leads us almost automatically to associate guilt with a religious concept. To be more precise this has Judean-Christian roots. At the same time it also tends to lead to the identification of responsibility with strictly legal matters. Guilt is presented in close association with religion or, at most, with psychoanalysis, given that responsibility is usually restricted to criminal law or is associated in terms of protocol with polities. Nevertheless, although the words «guilt» and «responsibility » do not occur very often in dictionaries of ethics, they are key concepts in moral thought. My purpose here is to present them as dimensions or complementary aspects of our moral sense. It is of course possible for anyone to accept a specific responsibility without feeling guilty while, on the other hand, some people will always prefer to wallow in feelings of guilt without feeling responsible for the cause of the same. However, it is correct for both notions to work together with one accord. Guilt should therefore be a symptom of responsibility, while attending to our own responsibilities should be enough to ensure a complete lack of personal guilt.
Highlights
If I am not mistaken, our cultural baggage leads us almost automati· cally to associate guilt with a religious concept
At the same time it tends to lead to the identification of res· ponsibility with strictly legal matters
Guilt is presented in close association with religion or, at most, with psychoanalysis, given that responsibility is usually restricted to criminal law or is associated in terms of protocol with polities
Summary
En un autor que -según una opíníón bastante generalízadatíene algo que ver con la fílosofía moral, como es el caso de Kant, la palabra «responsabílídad» casí no aparece a lo largo de toda su obra, bríllando más bíen por su ausencía en su densa produccíón. Ante cualquier deber, la conciencia moral del hombre tendrá que pensarse como un alter ego distinto a uno mismo en cuanto juez de sus acciones. A su favor, no puede hacer acallar de ningún modo a ese fiscal acusador ubicado en su fuero interno, si es consciente de que cuando perpetró esa injusticia se hallaba en sus cabales, o sea, en el uso de su libertad y, aun cuando se explique su falta por cierta mala costumbre contraída mediante un paulatino descuido sobre uno mismo, e incluso llegue hasta el extremo de poder verla como una consecuencia natural del proceso recién descrito, todo ello no puede ponerle a salvo de la autocensura y los reproches que se hace a sí mismo» 21. Seguramente, al escribir estas líneas, Kant evocaba, también en esta ocasión, estas otras líneas de su maestro en materia moral: «¡Oh conciencia!-había clamado el Rousseau de las Cartas morales-, instinto divino, voz inmortal y celeste, guía segura de un ser ignorante y limitado, pero inteligente y libre, juez infalible del bien y del mal, emanación sublime de la sustancia eterna, que vuelve al hombre semejante a los dioses, tú eres lo único que confiere a mi naturaleza cierta excelencia» 24
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