Does common sense exist?

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common sense: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

What is generally regarded as common sense is not, as I feel, what the world follows. Is there such a thing as common sense and, if so, what could one consider common sense?

This is referring to "common sense" applied in life decisions and political decisions.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 7 • Views: 23,275 • Replies: 136

[+3] - Jebediah - 09/03/2010[quote="Intrepid"] [quote="cicerone imposter"] Sorry, I haven't read through all the posts; what's OP? [/quote] [b]O[/b]riginal [b]P[/b]oster That's just common sense...

@cg2028,

Common sense is a subjective term that have different meanings for different people. It might be derived through cultural upbringing, religious, and/or family and peers.

Some thing one culture may find as "normal" may be offensive to another. e.g. What'sa matter with you! Don't you know any better?

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Oftentimes, I think common sense reflects a view of a situation, and the resultant action taken, without being swayed by the emotionality of the situation. So, "common sense," I believe, would be evident when one hears, on the weather forecast, that it will be sunny all day, yet when one looks out the window, one sees some darker, low-lying clouds. Common sense would make one take an umbrella, and not give credence to the weather forecast, even though one may have really been happy to hear the weather forecast predicting sunny weather. In effect, the old Boy Scout motto, "always be prepared" reflects common sense.

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@Foofie,

So one might establish the notion that common sense decisions are those embodying a rational approach to a problem versus an emotive approach.

So what scenarios would present a rational approach versus an emotive approach?

Also, is an emotive response better in some situations? Which, if any, call for one or the other approach?

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@cg2028,

cg2028 wrote:

common sense: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

What is generally regarded as common sense is not, as I feel, what the world follows. Is there such a thing as common sense and, if so, what could one consider common sense?

This is referring to "common sense" applied in life decisions and political decisions.

But each time a person looks both ways before crossing a busily traveled road, and decides to cross that road when he believes it is safe to do so, is making a prudent and sound judgment. Do you deny that at least some people do that?

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@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

Common sense is a subjective term that have different meanings for different people. It might be derived through cultural upbringing, religious, and/or family and peers.

Some thing one culture may find as "normal" may be offensive to another. e.g. What'sa matter with you! Don't you know any better?

Whatever "subjective term" means, it is still true that as the term "common sense" in "common sense judgment" is ordinarily used in English, it means a judgment that is prudent and sound. So, whether the term is "subjective" or not (whatever that may mean) or whether it has other meaning, or how it happens to be derived (whatever that may mean) is irrelevant to the fact that is how the term is used by fluent speakers of English. Now the OP seems to be saying that with that use of "common sense" in mind, that few or no people make common sense judgments. And now the question is whether or not that is true. The answer to that question seems to be clearly, no, it isn't true, and that people do make common sense judgments. Indeed, a lot of them do. Don't you agree? And don't you agree that when we reply to a question we should try to reply to the question, and keep focused on what the question is?

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@cg2028,

cg2028 wrote:

common sense: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

What is generally regarded as common sense is not, as I feel, what the world follows. Is there such a thing as common sense and, if so, what could one consider common sense?

This is referring to "common sense" applied in life decisions and political decisions.

U'r question seems puzzeling to me. The term has been around for thousans of years, then suddenly you question it's existance.

...why?

1 Reply

@cg2028,

cg2028 wrote:

So one might establish the notion that common sense decisions are those embodying a rational approach to a problem versus an emotive approach.

So what scenarios would present a rational approach versus an emotive approach?

Also, is an emotive response better in some situations? Which, if any, call for one or the other approach?

A person with common sense notices the obvious simple answer. Rationality and emotion can actually work to blind a person to common sense because of the way they both take one away from the here and now.

I think this is often the case with a lack of common sense... a person is responding to an imaginary situation instead of the one that's actually in front of them.

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@HexHammer,

HexHammer wrote:

cg2028 wrote:

common sense: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

What is generally regarded as common sense is not, as I feel, what the world follows. Is there such a thing as common sense and, if so, what could one consider common sense?

This is referring to "common sense" applied in life decisions and political decisions.

U'r question seems puzzeling to me. The term has been around for thousans of years, then suddenly you question it's existance.

...why?

But he is not questioning the existence of the term, "common sense", but whether common sense exists. Another case of confusion between words and things. Very common on this forum. And, it does not follow that because a term has been around for many years that what the term (putatively) refers to exists. For example, the term "mermaid" has been around for many years, but there have never been any mermaids. Once more, the confusion between words and things pops up.

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@kennethamy,

kennethamy wrote:

HexHammer wrote:

cg2028 wrote:

common sense: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

What is generally regarded as common sense is not, as I feel, what the world follows. Is there such a thing as common sense and, if so, what could one consider common sense?

This is referring to "common sense" applied in life decisions and political decisions.

U'r question seems puzzeling to me. The term has been around for thousans of years, then suddenly you question it's existance.

...why?

But he is not questioning the existence of the term, "common sense", but whether common sense exists. Another case of confusion between words and things. Very common on this forum. And, it does not follow that because a term has been around for many years that what the term (putatively) refers to exists. For example, the term "mermaid" has been around for many years, but there have never been any mermaids. Once more, the confusion between words and things pops up.

Yes indeed, but Imo it's like asking if the moon exist.

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@HexHammer,

HexHammer wrote:

kennethamy wrote:

HexHammer wrote:

cg2028 wrote:

common sense: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

What is generally regarded as common sense is not, as I feel, what the world follows. Is there such a thing as common sense and, if so, what could one consider common sense?

This is referring to "common sense" applied in life decisions and political decisions.

U'r question seems puzzeling to me. The term has been around for thousans of years, then suddenly you question it's existance.

...why?

But he is not questioning the existence of the term, "common sense", but whether common sense exists. Another case of confusion between words and things. Very common on this forum. And, it does not follow that because a term has been around for many years that what the term (putatively) refers to exists. For example, the term "mermaid" has been around for many years, but there have never been any mermaids. Once more, the confusion between words and things pops up.
Yes indeed, but Imo it's like asking if the moon exist.

How is it like that?

1 Reply

@kennethamy,

kennethamy wrote:

How is it like that?

If one read the definition of "common sense" it should be reasonable selfexplanatory. The same with the moon, you can read about the moon and confirm the existance of the moon by plain and simple observation.

..ending in my category "why ask such question?"

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@HexHammer,

HexHammer wrote:

kennethamy wrote:
How is it like that?
If one read the definition of "common sense" it should be reasonable selfexplanatory. The same with the moon, you can read about the moon and confirm the existance of the moon by plain and simple observation.

..ending in my category "why ask such question?"

I think you mean that it is common sense to believe that there is common sense (and the Moon) and I agree with you.

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@HexHammer,

Asking about the moon has nothing to do with philosophy.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

Asking about the moon has nothing to do with philosophy.

Nor does the OP?

1 Reply

@HexHammer,

Sorry, I haven't read through all the posts; what's OP?

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

Sorry, I haven't read through all the posts; what's OP?

Original Poster

That's just common sense Wink

1 Reply

@Intrepid,

Intrepid wrote:

cicerone imposter wrote:

Sorry, I haven't read through all the posts; what's OP?

Original Poster

That's just common sense

Isn't it common knowledge?

1 Reply

@Jebediah,

Jebediah wrote:

Intrepid wrote:

cicerone imposter wrote:

Sorry, I haven't read through all the posts; what's OP?

Original Poster

That's just common sense

Isn't it common knowledge?

Apparently, not.

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@cg2028,

cg2028 wrote:

So one might establish the notion that common sense decisions are those embodying a rational approach to a problem versus an emotive approach.

So what scenarios would present a rational approach versus an emotive approach?

Also, is an emotive response better in some situations? Which, if any, call for one or the other approach?

An emotive response would be better in situations that require an emotive response. For example, in rhetoric appeal to logic is rarely effective. It is common sense to appeal to an emotion of some sort. Persuasion.

One has to remember that the word common is part of the term common sense. To use a completely unemotional and logical decision method is not all that common. Being in tune with the emotional needs of one's self and his/her interlocutors is paramount to living in a common world. It is entirely rational to employ and respond to emotions.

Take and example used earlier, crossing the street. There is much more going on in the decision to cross the street than, "are there cars comming?" A person making this choice takes into account her own feelings, her own history of dealing with dangerous situations, the time constraints involved in getting where he's going, who might be waiting for her, what the feelings are the people waiting having about him not being accross the street yet.... etc... etc... etc... leading to pre and post decision making doubts which are also emotions and factor into the choice and how the choice is handled before during and after the action. Although I can set all these out in a rational context in writing, the person choosing to cross a busy road with oncoming traffic has that little anxious feeling in her gut from hasty emotion and logic based risk analysis.

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Does common sense exist?

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