Common Sense
We use it everyday in English, and as far as I know it's difficult to find a good equivalent for it in Persian. Did you know the origins of the phrase “Common Sense”?
It was first used by philosopher Thomas Reid. Born in Aberdeen in Scotland in 1710, he is one of the important names of the enlightenment period and had a big influence not only in Britain but also in the British colonies in America during the chaotic years of the American independence movement. In the age of 41 he became the central figure in the school of philosophy at King's College in Aberdeen with his philosophy of Common Sense.
Opposing the sceptists and moral relativists, Reid and his colleagues argued that all human beings come equipped with an innate rational capacity called Common Sense, which allows them to make clear and certain judgements about the world. They believed Common Sense tells humans that the world consists of real objects that exist in time and space, and it helps humans to understand and navigate through that reality, and tells them that the more they know about the outside world, the better they can act on it, both as individuals and as members of the community. These things are, as Reid put it, ‘Self-Evident’, meaning that they are ‘no sooner understood than they are believed’, because they ‘carry the light of truth in itself’.
Philosophers of the time believed that knowledge was power, and that the route to knowledge was through experience. But Reid insisted that that power belonged to every human, regardless of any other attributes. Human progress rested on expanding that capacity to its utmost and to as many people as possible so they can all become truly strong and morally free.
Reid later took over the chair of moral philosophy in the university of Glasgow which had once belonged to Adam Smith. In America his impact was huge. Thomas Jefferson borrowed his idea of ‘self-evident truth’ and used it for the Declaration of Independence. His ideas shaped American theories for education for the next hundred years.
Tnx! It was useful. (:
You may know that one of the biggest challenges of AI is enabling the machines to have commonsense and there are active researches around the world to make them able. However, it is evident that scientists do not believe that commonsense is intrinsic and cannot be learnt. You may take search for Marvin Minsky to find something related.
(at October 14, 2004 06:23 AM)
That was interesting, I guess 'common sense' is something that our culture is really confused about. Reid probably lived in the same kind of atmosphere, people who were confused and didn't know what was right and what was wrong, and consequently didn't know how to make themselves strong and free. I think our society is in the same situation (about 200 years behind).
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