And when they become educated beyond their capacities, they become less sensible?

No. They were never sensible. But the education masked that.

:a-ok: I think common sense is past down from generation to generation and is deeply embedded in our culture. At least in my street...

Well, in some places if you don't have common sense you don't live long enough to realize you don't :bigsmile:

Tis true, tis true.

I think we should distinguish between ordinary common sense, and a more technical notion (introduced by G.E. Moore) he called, "common sense beliefs". I think it is the latter that is more controversial, and that sometimes people attack ordinary common sense when they really mean to dispute the more technical idea of common sense beliefs in philosophy To see what I mean, look at the following site:

Guess I was lucky being born with common sense, intelligence and good fortune... It is all things to learn & I started young.

Common sense is always what the other guy doesn't have and you have loads of.

No, it is not ironic, in part for the reasons kennethamy stated above:

http://www.philosophyforum.com/lounge/general-discussion/7827-eulogoy-common-sense.html#post136494

http://www.philosophyforum.com/lounge/general-discussion/7827-eulogoy-common-sense.html#post136499

What happens with many people is that they get confused by words, and misuse them such that they fool themselves into imagining that they are saying something sublimely profound when they are uttering nonsensical gibberish. People who need help on this may benefit from reading some Lewis Carroll, as he was good at playing with words in a way that makes it almost seem as though his sentences are meaningful when they are really playful nonsense. Carroll, though, was not a fool who got confused by this generally, and had fun with nonsense. But others who write nonsense often believe that they are being profound because it is difficult to understand the sentences they form. Most janitors probably do not get mired in so much nonsense, though they probably believe their fair share of it. But the "experts" become supremely confused and nonsensical, far beyond the reach of most people.

Yes, one proof is that the Universities are full of Liberals and left-wingers. C.D. Broad used to call them, "clever-sillies".

:bigsmile: I get all-ways confused by Flatlanders when I think of Alice. Was this the same author ? I also like Gulliver's Travels. Never cared much for Canterbury Tales. Prefer Westminster Abb/ Some-times my writing might be gibberish but u must face the fact of me speaking YOur Language; not my own.

:shocked: PS&S

Flatland was written by Edwin Abbott Abbott, not Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, which was his real name; Lewis Carroll was a pen name). I do not think the work of these two authors has much in common. A couple of books to read by Carroll are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (aka Alice in Wonderland) and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.

As for English not being your native language, that typically results in different sorts of errors than those to which I was referring above, though, of course, one could commit more than one kind of error at a time. The errors due to English not being one's native language are generally much more benign, and can often be cured by practice. But the tendency to be confused into believing that nonsense is profound is often a terminal malignancy.

Yes, although I have witnessed (very rare) miraculous cures. It is striking how many of those who believe nonsense is profound believe slogans like "hope and change' and the "this is our moment", and various other Obamaisms. And actually vote for candidates who spout those slogans. Nonsense does not stop with philosophy. Academics (especially those doing "Criticism", and the social scientists) voted in lock-step for Obama. The hard scientists and the business majors were, of course, much better. And the analytic philosophers, of course. Most analytic philosophers are, I think, conservative, and even, Conservative.

Like Emperor Nero ? Nero for Rpecident... I donot know if I am allowed to Cheer for Candidates. Does the White House employ Yesters ?

And Easters, too. But there is no point in working for an employer who will be out of a job in a couple of years.

In the largest and most infinite thought of common sense, what do we really mean? Well, universally speaking, this is a challenge but it can begin as simply as within the seed of love. What is love? How can you prove it exists? How is love common sense? Love cares enough to ask such questions, one can deduce this much. But grander, now! How is the state of the world? Is it being LOVED? Where is it lacking? And where is it lacking within us? Fair enough for somebody to assert that within him or herself love is good and there is no problem, and that he or she is giving to others. Such is my ideal human. If you're one of them, I am praising you. If you are not I am inspiring you poetically, and showing you logically. How is the state of the world? What is the quality of our social consciousness? I'm not one to critique, although I have plenty of suggestions, and nothing harsh. Musicians & activists were really on a roll in the 1960's. I think Bob Dylan had more leeway in 66' on tour promoting his BLONDE ON BLONDE album than anybody today but maybe the president of the united States and on that note, it was in Dylan's words "even the president of the united states sometimes has to stand naked".
Back to "common sense". What good should any notion of common sense do, like a few of you mentioned here, if we are not in a state of joy? A kind of flowing joy with momentum? What do we want to do with our lives? To really do? I shall tell you myself, I wish to travel, write, learn, think, & share my thoughts. Along the way I'd like to stir a world peace movement, change our concept of money from something bad, or troublesome into something blessed and useful, and there's plenty more.

Architect Robert M. Scarano Jr, of Brooklyn NY could be barred by the court for making large buildings. One's that mask other buildings around. Reminds me of "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand, when Howard Roark went to court for exploding his building. Was it an act of common sense?

Common sense. Common sense. Common sense. I've heard so many versions of this word and I am not tired of it but I hope I can expand its meaning to great lengths. I want more intellectualism in the media. Better art. Younger artists and older artists. I want to see lifespans increased by centuries. I want to see science over all remade for "scientific law" is UNACCEPTABLE to me by means as anything other than a tendency from which to make a new tendency. I want this website to matter more than facebook.com.

Common sense. Common sense. Common sense. How many times in our lives have we each experienced adversity of another's unkindness? Or worse-their ignorance? Their silence? I should think I was never hurt worse in my life than when I published my book and my greatest friends never called to congratulate me. Never asked to read it? Never asked how sales were going? And I can say the same of many members of my family. This hurt me, weather sensible or not. It hurt, and it hurt greatly and I thought for a few months to what extent I should care. Should I? I will say this much about it.

I have written a great piece of literature. It is great because I spent five years writing it. It is great because I had inner and world peace in mind. It is great because every story and every philosophization is about love. It is great because even within human perversion or evil or the illusion of such, I found a blessing to elevate and rise above the ugly illusions. I didn't know how to tell anybody how excited I was about what I wrote. I was almost ashamed to go to the newspapers because I didn't think they would care. I wanted to insist that my friends read it. A few of them have. Many of them were busy. And that got me to thinking about the sensibility or lack there of as regards "busy". I am busy too, trying to sell literature to people who are generally too busy to read literature! Back to care. Back to sensibility of extent to which one should value or devalue lack of care from those we most love.
Hey, the dali lama follows noone on twitter. But he's on twitter. What do you think about that? I don't know much about the Dali Lama. Does he read?
Does he care who listens to him or what people think of what he does? Should he?
I often look at what is low only to decide, as I make almost a theme of this, what in lowness should ever count? What hurt should one feel and what hurt is silly? Pink Floyd says "it's not pain, you're only receeding." Hmm. I wonder how much we all care about one another's success. I want everybody on Earth to succeed at something that makes the world appear to them, beautiful. I want everybody to know they are cared about by somebody and I want everybody to care about somebody else in return. I also want everybody not to care who cares or doesn't care in the sense of believing they are or are not validated, however, likewise, I want everybody to care that what they do affects the world.
Can you believe the man who wrote Moby Dick (oh, what's his name again?) died in the gutter, and when they wrote his obituary they got his name wrong! Cold, baby. That's cold. That's unacceptable. That snoop dog, who says nigga this and nigga that should attain more success is quite thought provoking, eh?
I hope public concern can elevate in such a way that individuality can still elevate along side it.
Now the sun is setting. It's beautiful. I used to be a poet and I would have gushed and wept. This evening I am a philosopher, and I think of the sunset, and imagine its value, the people who notice, who don't. I remember the evenings which I do not notice the sunset and I don't feel guilty but I shoudl feel guilty if I never did notice it.
I don't think I am better than a single person and I not think a single person is better than me.
The ugliest thing I ever saw was the death of my father.
The second ugliest thing I ever saw was the hopelessness and cynicism of the unfortunate.
I am not a slave of my desires. I am a commander of my desires. I am not ashamed of how much money I want. I am not ashamed of how much money I have already donated. I am not ashamed to feel that my thinking is of grand importance. In fact, I only insist more so!
I think back to the early 1900's which seem like the most spiritual of the modern age. The days of John D Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie and T. S. Elliot, and E. E. Cummings and James Joyce, and Pablo Picasso....these men were spiritual giants. They're aims were so high. They each revolutionized something! And they came from nothing. Carnegie was a nobody! A fu*king nobody! Laughed at! So was Henry Ford. I think of Helen Keller. I think of Ayn Rand. Her book "The Fountainhead" was rejected 12 times. And she became probably the best selling philosopher of all time. Where went revolutionary spirit, eh?
And some of you may think I am crazy. Or that I have gone mad. Some of you haven't even read up to this point. Some people don't care I've even written this. Many do. Either way you will see how relevant I make this as it comes down to our thoughts, my friends. OUR THOUGHTS are so beautiful. Thoughts are more beautiful and precious than GOLD. Than DIAMONDS. Why, thoughts invented love. Thoughts found God. Thoughts are life. Thoughts are the most beautiful and enlivening of things. Oh how I love to think! How I live to think. How I write to think and philosophize. I shall spend another 148 years philosophizing! Laugh if you want. It's good for you! I love life so much I feel like a poet! A musician! I can barely handle my love for life sometimes. I am so happy tonight. I have been happy for months now. I love this life. I love this Earth. Beside me I have my philosophy, which is ever developing, and based on words, infinite possibility, interconnectivity, love, God as mystery and creativity, art, form as motion and motion in forms, and as "thinking" not quite expounding, but swirling around through time, valuing the instant's greatest aspects and projecting their greatest imagined, and possible implications. Is that not what a philosopher ought to do?
Yes, I have slightly rambled. I have digressed a touch. So shall we all!
From Aritstottle to the Dali Lama. From Democritus to Nietzsche. From Jesus to Gandhi. From Bach to Bob Dylan. From Gold to diamonds to thoughts.

To be honest I do not typically speak quite like this. I'm usually softer, and more mysterious. Such is how I shall remain, but none the less, I have so much desire, and so many ideas to share, I am rich with thoughts, my friends. Rich with thoughts, true love, and great, great, great friends, and a great family, those who support me and who I support in return.

So what is my over all purpose in this statement? It shall bring it back to A) Thought B) public concern C) Gratitude

THOUGHT
Thought shall be the newest commodity. There is so much to do with it. I say we have at least 3 centuries ahead of us in revolutionizing all we may do with thought. I may suggest you read my own philosophizations and stories as you may get an idea for yourself, for the philosopher, I believe, stimulates the mind, the thinking, the way a musician perhaps may stimulate the spirit? A philosopher destroys intellectual limits, find's intellectual harmony, and makes intellectualism spiritual! A philosopher blessed with his or her thoughts! That is my job. To bless the Earth with my philosophizatons and dialogues.

PUBLIC CONCERN
How busy we have all gotten these days. Quick critique of general advertisers, standard artists, cashiers, et cetera---- care very, very, very much about what is happening intellectually in your neighborhood, because those with the most money are making the rules and if you hate those rules stop whining and ACT! Californians are so upset about the disorganization of their district representations that instead of leaving it to the legislators, they're taking it upon themselves. That is a democracy! Regarding health insurance; it's oh so simple, ladies and gentleman. Forget about political parties. Until private health insurance companies can please the majority the government simply has better to offer. Don't like it? Make a better offer. That's life.

GRATITUDE
I want to leave this one for Chad Kroeger from Nickelback. I don't always love everything he sings, but here I do: "I'm singin amen I- I'm alive, Amen I- I'm alive. If everyone cared, and nobody cried, if everybody loved, and nobody lied, if everyone shared and swallowed their pride, we'd see the day that nobody died, and I'm singing amen, I, I'm alive, amen, I, I'm alive."



Sincerely,

Sean O'Connor

seanoconnorphilosophy.com

Poor old Hegel....

Are you sure that you know what he's about? Pyrrho, the Skeptic, is far more offensive, in his way, to common sense.

Ah yes, "in his way". That covers it up so you needn't explain what you mean. It is a substitute for putting inverted commas about the word, commonsense, isn't it? That's what make is no numinous. And protects it from criticism.