  In the Defence, Cockburn also introduces the idea of ‘conscience’ as a way of accounting for human moral sentiment.  According to Cockburn, conscience is a faculty, which she describes as a “sudden affection.” This idea of conscience as a kind of natural moral affection complements Cockburn’s view that morality is founded upon human nature: Moral knowledge arises from reflection upon our own natures and moral affection arises out of our natural constitutions. Cockburn uses this notion of conscience as a response to Burnet’s account of morality. She argues that conscience is not an immediate source of moral knowledge, as Burnet would have it, but a source of moral affection or feeling that complements, and presupposes, a proper (i.e., rational) knowledge of moral laws.