Common sense (or, when used attributively as an adjective, commonsense, common-sense, or commonsensical), based on a strict construction of the term, consists of what people in common would agree on: that which they "sense" (in common) as their common natural understanding. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the In Logic an interpretation gives meaning to an artificial or Formal language or to a sentence of such a language by assigning a denotation (extension Senses are the physiological methods of Perception. The senses and their operation classification and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields Some people use the phrase to refer to beliefs or propositions that — in their opinion — most people would consider prudent and of sound judgment, without reliance on esoteric knowledge or study or research, but based upon what they see as knowledge held by people "in common". Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a Proposition or Premise to be true In Logic and Philosophy, proposition refers to either (a the content or Meaning of a meaningful Declarative sentence Prudence (latprudentia is classically considered to be a Virtue, and indeed one of the Cardinal Virtues. In non-legal contexts a judgment is a balanced weighing up of evidence preparatory to making a decision Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding Thus "common sense" (in this view) equates to the knowledge and experience which most people allegedly have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have. Experience as a general concept comprises Knowledge of or skill in or Observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or An obligation is a requirement to take some course of action whether legal or moral.

Whatever definition one uses, identifying particular items of knowledge as "common sense" becomes difficult. Philosophers may choose to avoid using the phrase when using precise language. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language But common sense remains a perennial topic in epistemology and many philosophers make wide use of the concept or at least refer to it. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge Some related concepts include intuitions, pre-theoretic belief, ordinary language, the frame problem, foundational beliefs, good sense, endoxa, and axioms. Intuition is apparent ability to acquire knowledge without a clear inference or the use of reason Pre-theoretical belief has been an important notion in some areas of Linguistics and Philosophy, especially Phenomenology and older versions of “ordinary Ordinary language philosophy is a philosophical school that approached traditional philosophical problems as rooted in misunderstandings philosophers develop by forgetting what words actually In Artificial intelligence, the frame problem was initially formulated as the problem of expressing a dynamical domain in Logic without explicitly specifying which Endoxa ( Ancient Greek:ἐνδοξα derives from the word Doxa. In traditional Logic, an axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be either self-evident, or subject

Common-sense ideas tend to relate to events within human experience (such as good will), and thus appear commensurate with human scale. Human scale means "of a scale comparable to a Human being" Humans lack any commonsense intuition of, for example, the behavior of the universe at subatomic distances; or speeds approaching that of light.

Philosophy and common sense

Main article: Common-sense metaphysics

"Common sense" in philosophy has two general meanings:

1. a sense of things being common to other things
2. a sense of things common to humanity

Aristotle and Ibn Sina

According to Aristotle and Ibn Sina (Avicenna), common sense provides the place in which the senses come together, and which processes sense-data and makes the results available to consciousness. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the Thus the modern psychological term, "perception", fulfills the same function. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. Individuals could have different common senses depending on how their personal and social experience has taught them to categorize sensation. In Psychology, sensation is the first stage in the biochemical and neurologic events that begins with the impinging of a stimulus upon the receptor cells of a

Locke and the Empiricists

John Locke proposed one meaning of "common sense" in his An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 was an English Philosopher. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is one of John Locke 's two most famous works the other being his Second Treatise on Civil Government This interpretation builds on phenomenological experience. Each of the senses gives input, and then something integrates the sense-data into a single impression. This something Locke sees as the common sense — the sense of things in common between disparate impressions. It therefore allies with "fancy", and opposes "judgment", or the capacity to divide like things into separates. In non-legal contexts a judgment is a balanced weighing up of evidence preparatory to making a decision Each of the empiricist philosophers approaches the problem of the unification of sense-data in their own way, giving various names to the operation. In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. However, the approaches agree that a sense in the human understanding exists that sees commonality and does the combining: "common sense".

As a response to skepticism

Two philosophers, Thomas Reid and G. E. Moore, champion a different approach to defining "common sense". Thomas Reid ( April 26, 1710 – October 7, 1796) Scottish Philosopher, and a contemporary of David Hume, was "GE Moore" redirects here For the cofounder of Intel see Gordon Moore. They advocate the view (to state it imprecisely) that common-sense beliefs express the truth and form a foundation for philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality Both Reid and Moore, individually, appealed to common sense to refute skepticism. In ordinary usage skepticism or scepticism ( Greek 'σκέπτομαι' skeptomai, to look about to consider see also spelling differences

Reid

The Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid (1710-1796), a contemporary of Hume and the founder of the so-called Scottish School of Common Sense, devotes considerable space in his Inquiry^[1] and in his Intellectual Powers^[2] into developing a theory of common sense. Thomas Reid ( April 26, 1710 – October 7, 1796) Scottish Philosopher, and a contemporary of David Hume, was David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy The Scottish School of Common Sense was a school of Philosophy that flourished in Scotland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries While Reid never provides an explicit definition as such, a number of so-called "earmarks" of common sense (sometimes referred to as "principles of common sense"), appear, such as:

• "principles of common sense are believed universally (with the apparent exceptions of some philosophers and the insane)"
• "it is appropriate to ridicule the denial of common sense"
• "the denial of principles of common sense leads to contradictions"

Reid of course explicates his case more extensively than appears presently in this article.

Moore

Main article: Here is a hand

The British philosopher G. E. Moore (1873—1958), who did important work in epistemology, ethics, and other fields near the beginning of the twentieth century, wrote a programmatic essay, "A Defence of Common Sense" (1925). Here is a hand is the name of a philosophical Argument created by George Edward Moore against Philosophical skepticism and in support of Common "GE Moore" redirects here For the cofounder of Intel see Gordon Moore. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life A Defence of Common Sense is an influential 1925 Essay by Philosopher G In this essay (which had a profound effect on the methodology of much twentieth-century Anglo-American philosophy) Moore lists several seemingly very obvious truths, such as "There exists at this time a living human body which is my body", "My body has existed continuously on or near the earth, at various distances from or in contact with other existing things, including other living human beings", and many other such platitudes. Analytic philosophy (sometimes analytical philosophy) is a generic term for a style of Philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century A platitude is a trite meaningless biased or prosaic Statement that is presented as if it were significant and original He argues (as Reid did previously) that these propositions contain more obvious truth than the alternative premises of those philosophical claims which entail their falsehood (such as J. M. E. McTaggart's claim that time does not exist). John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart ( September 3, 1866 – January 18, 1925) was an Idealist metaphysicist.

Epistemology

Appeal to common sense characterises a general epistemological orientation called epistemological particularism (the appellation derives from Roderick Chisholm (1916-1999)). Particularism refers to a wide variety of different approaches in different fields only some of which are described here Roderick M Chisholm (born Seekonk Massachusetts in 1916 died Providence Rhode Island in 1999 was an American philosopher known for his work This orientation contrasts with epistemological methodism. In the study of knowledge methodism refers to the epistemological approach where one asks "How do we know?" before "What do we know?" The term appears in Roderick The particularist gathers a list of propositions that seem obvious and unassailable and then requires consistency with this set of propositions as a condition of adequacy for any abstract philosophical theory. (Particularism allows, however, rejection of an entry on the list for inconsistency with other, seemingly more secure, entries. ) Epistemological methodists, on the other hand, begin with a theory of cognition or justification and then apply it to see which of our pre-theoretical beliefs survive. Cognition is a concept used in different ways by different disciplines but is generally accepted to mean the process of awareness or thought Reid and Moore represent paradigmatic particularists, while Descartes and Hume stand as paradigmatic methodists. Methodist methodology tends toward skepticism, as the rules for acceptable or rational belief tend to the very restrictive (for instance, Descartes demanded the elimination of doubt; and Hume required the construction of acceptable belief entirely from impressions and ideas). An idea is a form (such as a Thought) formed by Consciousness (including Mind) through the Process of ideation.

Particularist methodology, on the other hand, tends toward a kind of conservatism, granting perhaps an undue privilege to beliefs in which we happen to have confidence. One interesting question asks whether epistemological thought can mix the methodologies. In such a case, does it not become problematical to attempt logic, metaphysics and epistemology absent original assumptions stemming from common sense? Particularism, applied to ethics and politics, may seem to simply entrench prejudice and other contingent products of social inculcation (compare cultural determinism). Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science Cultural determinism is the belief that the culture in which we are raised determines who we are at emotional and behavioral levels Can one provide a principled distinction between areas of inquiry where reliance on the dictates of common sense seems legitimate (because necessary) and areas where it seems illegitimate (as for example an obstruction to intellectual and practical progress)? A meta-philosophical discussion of common sense may then, indeed, proceed: What is common sense? Supposing that one cannot give a precise characterization of it: does that mean that appeal to common sense remains off-limits in philosophy? What utility does it have to discern whether a belief is a matter of common sense or not? And under what circumstances, if any, might one advocate a view that seems to run contrary to common sense? Should considerations of common sense play any decisive role in philosophy? If not common sense, then could another similar concept (perhaps "intuition") play such a role? In general, does epistemology have "philosophical starting points", and if so, how can one characterize them? Supposing that no beliefs exist which we will willingly hold come what may, do there though exist some we ought to hold more stubbornly at least?

Alternative views

Opponents of one of the traditional views of common sense sometime regard reliance on common sense (in its guise as "received knowledge") as an impediment to abstract and even to logical thinking. Two or more things are distinct if no two of them are the same thing Intuition is apparent ability to acquire knowledge without a clear inference or the use of reason Hold come what may is a phrase popularized by the late Harvard Philosophy professor W Hold more stubbornly at least is a phrase popularized by the late Harvard Philosophy professor W --> Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. This view appears especially popular in mathematics and physics, where human intuition often conflicts with "probably correct" or experimentally verified results. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. A definition attributed to Albert Einstein states: "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical "

Participants in political debates sometimes appeal to common sense, particularly when they have exhausted other arguments. For example, partisans have attacked civil rights for African Americans, women's suffrage, and homosexuality — to name just a few — as contrary to common sense. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. Similarly, opponents of many scientific and technological advances have invoked common sense. Such misuse of the notion of common sense exemplifies the fallacy of argumentum ad populum (appeal to the masses). An Informal fallacy is an argument whose stated premises fail to support their proposed conclusion An argumentum ad populum ( Latin: "appeal to the people" in Logic, is a fallacious argument that concludes a Proposition to be true

Projects: collecting common sense

• McCarthy's advice-taker proposal of 1958 arguably represents the first scheme to use logic for representing common-sense knowledge in mathematical logic and using an automated theorem prover to derive answers to questions expressed in logical form. John McCarthy (born September 4, 1927, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American Computer scientist and Cognitive The advice taker was a hypothetical Computer program, proposed by John McCarthy in his 1958 paper "Programs with Common Sense". Mathematical logic is a subfield of Logic and Mathematics with close connections to Computer science and Philosophical logic. Automated theorem proving ( ATP) or automated deduction, currently the most well-developed subfield of Automated reasoning (AR is the Compare Leibniz's calculus ratiocinator and characteristica universalis. The Calculus Ratiocinator is a theoretical universal logical calculation framework a concept described in the writings of Gottfried Leibniz, usually paired with his more frequently
• The Cyc project attempts to provide a basis of common-sense knowledge for artificial-intelligence systems. Cyc is an artificial intelligence project that attempts to assemble a comprehensive ontology and Database of everyday Common sense knowledge,
• The Open Mind Common Sense project resembles the Cyc project, except that it, like other on-line collaborative projects such as Wikipedia, depends on the contributions of thousands of individuals across the World Wide Web. Open Mind Common Sense is an Artificial intelligence project based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab whose goal is to build a large ***************************************************************************************** * * The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked Hypertext documents accessed via the Internet.
• Common Sense, a pamphlet penned by Thomas Paine. Common Sense was a Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, during the American A pamphlet is an unbound Booklet (that is without a hard cover or binding) Thomas Paine (January 29 1737 &ndash June 8 1809 was an English Pamphleteer, Revolutionary, radical, Inventor, and Intellectual

See also

• Antonio Gramsci
• Appeal to tradition
• Common sense and the Diallelus
• Common sense conservative
• Common Sense, a pamphlet penned by Thomas Paine
• Commonsense reasoning (in Artificial intelligence)
• Convention (norm)
• Darwin Awards
• Frame problem
• John Ralston Saul
• Norm (sociology)
• Wisdom of repugnance
• History of philosophy in Poland
• Sapir–Whorf hypothesis
• Social Representations
• world view

Notes

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