Random Thoughts Thread

[Andres]

All too easily "common sense" is abused to force one's opinion through another one's throat.

I'm going to make a bold statement: common sense is an obstacle in philosophy and therefore has no place in it. It imposes a limit and as such becomes a roadblock to innovative and new ideas. Common sense stands in the way. And not only in philosophy.

I understand @asai about Descartes and some philosophers living in Ivory Towers, and to a certain degree, I concur, but Descartes' was groundbreaking in the sense that his ideas force you to be skeptical about everything, even about things you observe. He takes it to the extreme, which becomes a bit silly, but there is merit in it.

Perhaps it is nothing more than an impression, but I have the impression that in our modern day Western societies, people are not sceptical enough. Everything mainstream media throws at them, is accepted as fact and truth. Sure, you can say some of his ideas are silly, but we need more Descartes who learns us to distrust everything we observe to balance out the lack of scepticism and critical thinking in our societies.

We need more people arguing that perhaps oranges aren't orange to counterbalance the majority which questions nothing.

EDIT: it was ACIN who mentioned asai, which only shows Descartes was right: I shouldn't trust my senses.