Common sense

:For the American independence advocacy pamphlet by Thomas Paine, see Common Sense (Book).

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The term common sense (or as an adjective, commonsense) describes beliefs or propositions that seem, to most people, to be prudent and of sound judgment, without dependence upon esoteric knowledge. These beliefs and propositions are sometimes developed after having studied, or conducted, empirical research.

Related Topics:
Adjective - Belief - Proposition - Prudent - Judgment - Esoteric knowledge - Empirical research

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Among philosophers, defining common sense has proved vexing, leading many of them to shun the word altogether. Whatever it does mean, it does not mean homespun (and sometimes dubious) truths such as "Chicken soup is good for colds." Nonetheless, common sense is a perennial topic in epistemology and widely used or referred to, in one form or another, by a great many philosophers. Some related concepts include intuitions, pre-theoretic belief, ordinary language, the frame problem, foundational beliefs, endoxa, and axioms.

Related Topics:
Philosopher - Epistemology - Intuition - Pre-theoretic belief - Ordinary language - Frame problem - Foundational belief - Endoxa - Axiom

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Commonsense ideas tend to relate to events within human experience, and thus commensurate with human scale. Thus there is no commonsense intuition of, for example, the behavior of the universe at subatomic distances or speeds approaching the speed of light.

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