Common Sense: The Foundations for Social Science

Common sense involves not only the basic beliefs of a particular society but also the fundamental presuppositions of all human knowledge. Because it is both, it continues to bear the marks of ambiguity which characterized its use in the Enlightenment. But it is important to notice that any attempt at the specialization or extension of knowledge makes some assumptions about common sense plays either the role of the conservative voice which must be criticized and replaced by a more disciplined form of inquiry or it is the liberating view which may be used in the criticism, reform, and the eventual restructuring of some dominating and specialized world view. All this is particularly pertinent to the contributors to this volume who are internationally known representatives of the major branches of the social sciences for all of whom common sense is intimately related to their more formal social science inquiries. Volume VI in the Sources in Semiotics Series.