common sense, philosophy of
- common sense, philosophy of
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18th- and early 19th-century Scottish school of Thomas Reid (
Reid, Thomas), Adam Ferguson, Dugald Stewart, and others, who held that in the actual perception of the average, unsophisticated man, sensations (
sensation) are not mere ideas or subjective impressions but carry with them the belief in corresponding qualities as belonging to external objects. Such beliefs, Reid insisted, “belong to the common sense and reason of mankind”; and in matters of common sense “the learned and the unlearned, the philosopher and the day-labourer, are upon a level.”
The philosophy of common sense developed as a reaction against the skepticism of David Hume and the subjective idealism of George Berkeley, both of which seemed to issue from an excessive stress on ideas. This provided what seemed to the common sense philosophers to be a false start leading from fundamental premises to absurdities. This false start stemmed from René Descartes and John Locke inasmuch as they gave to ideas an importance that inevitably made everything else succumb to them.
From 1816 to 1870 the Scottish doctrine was adopted as the official philosophy of France; and in the 20th century the teaching of G.E. Moore (Moore, G E), a founding father of analytic philosophy (especially in his “Defence of Common Sense,” 1925), convinced many British and American philosophers that it was not their business to question the common certainties but rather to analyze them.
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Universalium.
2010.
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Common Sense, Philosophy of — • The term common sense designates (1) a special faculty, the sensus communis of the Aristotelean and Scholastic philosophy; (2) the sum of original principles found in all normal minds; (3) the ability to judge and reason in accordance with… … Catholic encyclopedia
COMMON-SENSE, PHILOSOPHY OF — the philosophy which rests on the principle that the perceptions of the senses reflect things as they actually are irrespectively of them … The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
Common Sense philosophy — Здравого смысла философия … Вестминстерский словарь теологических терминов
Philosophy of Common Sense — Philosophy of Common Sense † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Philosophy of Common Sense The term common sense designates (1) a special faculty, the sensus communis of the Aristotelean and Scholastic philosophy; (2) the sum of original … Catholic encyclopedia
Common Sense Realism — or Scottish Common Sense Realism is a school of philosophy that originated in the ideas of Scottish philosophers Thomas Reid, Adam Ferguson and Dugald Stewart during the 18th century Scottish Enlightenment. Contents 1 Teachings 2 Influence 2.1 … Wikipedia
common sense — In early modern writing (e.g. Descartes ) the faculty responsible for coordinating the deliveries of the different senses. In this meaning the objects of common sense are the ‘common sensibles’, i.e. qualities such as extension and motion that… … Philosophy dictionary
common sense — Among the most influential philosophical approaches in 19th and 20th century Protestant theology has been the common sense realism of Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid (1710 96). Reid, who taught at both King s College in Aberdeen and the… … Encyclopedia of Protestantism
philosophy of common sense — The school of philosophy that takes the universally admitted impressions of mankind as corresponding to the facts of things without any further scrutiny • • • Main Entry: ↑common … Useful english dictionary
Common sense — This article is about the concept of the phrase. For the American revolutionary war pamphlet by Thomas Paine, see Common Sense (pamphlet). For other uses, see Common sense (disambiguation). Common sense is defined by Merriam Webster as, sound and … Wikipedia
Common Sense (pamphlet) — This article is about the American revolutionary war pamphlet by Thomas Paine. For other uses, see Common sense (disambiguation). Common Sense … Wikipedia