O sensecommonit is a type of thinking that has not been tested, verified, or methodically analyzed. Generally, common sense knowledge is present in our daily lives and is passed on from generation to generation. We can say that this type of knowledge is categorically popular and culturally accepted, which does not guarantee its validity or invalidity.
Common sense, as it is obtained from a movement of repetitioncultural, may or may not be correct. It is not possible to trust this kind of knowledge as one trusts in science, but neither can we immediately invalidate it, since the fact that it does not establish itself methods and evidentiary tests, does not necessarily mean that the kind of popular knowledge is wrong.
Common sense is generally driven by opinion. We can list philosophical studies on common sense since the Ancient Greece. THE Philosophy emerged as a way to counter that kind of non-rigorous folk knowledge.
Know more: What is Philosophy?
Common Sense Features
the italian philosopher
AntonioGramsci (contemporary intellectual who contributed to the dissemination of anarchism in Italy and, in the philosophical field, he dedicated himself to understanding knowledge and culture) studied and wrote about common sense. for the thinker, common sense has its strictly positive characteristic, being a popular knowledge that everyone has and produces. However, to arrive at a more elaborated, more structured and safer knowledge, it is necessary to go beyond common sense.Silviogallo, philosopher, educator and professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Education at UNICAMP, states that, in this sense, common sense is a good starting point, but that, often, systematized and tested knowledge, such as philosophy and science, are necessary to obtain knowledge of greater confidence and validity.
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For the Portuguese sociologist, writer and teacher BonaventureinSousasaints, we can call that common sense vulgar and practical knowledge that guides us daily.
Over time, a common idea (common sense) was created that women were inferior, which was established as a cultural truth (although it is not a strict truth). We can therefore think that Common sense is not always positive or rightAfter all, we know that women are not less intelligent, more fragile or subordinate to men. This also attests to the repetitive factor that surrounds the name of common sense: it is something that, after being repeated so much, ends up being seen as a truth.
Read more: Know the degrees of knowledge and the divisions of science
common sense and science
On a hasty reading, we might think that common sense and science are summarily opposed and unrelated. However, there are different conceptions, some of them have a complementarity between science and common sense.
O positivism, a philosophical-political doctrine developed by the French thinker Auguste Comte, establishes paths for social progress through scientific progress and political order. Therefore, this doctrine admits only science as a source of true knowledge. This conception even excludes Philosophy, which, according to Comte, would have ceded its place to scientific models for the explanation of reality. In this conception, common sense is totally discarded.
Pedro Demo, Brazilian sociologist and professor emeritus at UnB, a reference in studies on scientific knowledge and learning in Brazil and author of more than 90 books, also part of a similar conception, stating that the prevalence of untested knowledge can lead human beings to incoherent thoughts, for example, believing that the sun moves around from the earth.
In fact, science is the safest source of knowledge that we have, but the validity of common sense, in some cases, is remarkable. If we think that great scientific research that led to great pharmaceutical discoveries departed from the common sense knowledge of medicinal plants, for example, we have an element to consider common sense as a good starting point to drive science.
common sense and critical sense
While there is a certain complementarity between philosophy, science and common sense, since the first two part of this one, there seems to be no connection between common sense and critical sense. While in the critical sense mistrust, skepticism, criticism and analysis prevail; in common sense, the acceptance of given and repeated knowledge prevails.
A scientist or philosopher can start with common sense, as long as he has a critical view of those elements he is analyzing. In this sense, stay in common sense is to stagnate, while adopting a critical view (or a critical sense) is advancing towards deeper knowledge.
See more: Relationship between the "Myth of the Cave" and "The Matrix"
culture and common sense
THE culture is the main constituent element of common sense (a statement that is also evident in its opposite form, as common sense is one of the main elements of culture). In this sense, common sense and culture are complementary elements.
The statements proposed by common sense end up becoming cultural elements, as repetition makes them true. Popular culture is full of common sense elements. We have, for example, the causal statement “if you catch cold, you will get the flu”. This statement, often repeated by older people, is not necessarily true, but it has taken root in our culture through repetition.
Examples of common sense
We can list several examples of common sense. some of them establish nexusescausal (not necessarily true), others concern valuessocial. The fact is that commonsense knowledge acquires validity through repetition.
Take, for example, a person who experiences some form of chronic bone pain. This person noted that whenever the pain became more acute, it rained or the weather was taken up by a cold front. There is neither a necessary causal link nor scientific elements that link the pain to the arrival of the rain or the cold front, but this person goes on to say, due to the repetition of experiences, that “when pain arrives, it is a sign that it is rain or cold”.
Another example can be found in plantsmedicinal. For millennia, human beings have sought to deal with ailments through plants and other elements of nature. Upon discovering that the peumus boldus (known as boldo) is a plant with properties that stimulate digestion and detoxify the digestive system (they discovered this through observation and repetition), they started to use it as a medicinal plant.
At wisdompopular, only common sense attests to this relationship, however, pharmaceutical studies have already proven the effectiveness of boldo for the treatment of indigestion and intoxication, which resulted in the development of drugs based on the plant.
The common ideas that women are fragile, that Asians are smarter, that Muslims are terrorists or that Indians are indolent are also examples of common sense knowledge, but they have no hint of validity and are assertions. prejudiced.
by Francisco Porfirio
Philosophy teacher
