Common Sense – The True Value of a Rare Jewel
Article by Prof Dr Beatrice Lucaci
“Common sense is the genius of humanity.”
– Goethe
it springs from the people’s tradition, it also includes
elements of scientific nature. We got used to perceiv-
ing it as a measure of good education, goodwill and
Common sense is less than common. Too often we see respect towards the ones around us. At the same time,
how misrepresentation, untruthfulness, arrogance it is the nominator for honest, sincere relationships
and hypocrisy prevails in our society nowadays. Is that don’t bear any thoughts of betrayal, and gener-
it not precisely this common sense that represents ally, for everything that is true. The lack of common
the “backbone” of every human being? For us today, sense in a man makes him capable of anything, as
common sense takes the value of a rare jewel. for him there is nothing worthy of respect. Cruelty,
disregard and trampling on others, are just some of
To begin with, let us understand the meaning of the behaviours displayed by the ones without com-
“common sense”. The term is an ancient philosophi- mon sense.
cal one, reinstated in the seventeenth century when
the cartesianism courent grew in awareness. In time, “Common sense is the instinct of truth”
common sense acquired a wide range of meanings, – Max Jacob
but its first definition was given by Decartes: “the
power of judging well and distinguishing truth from When one manifests common sense, one spontane-
falsehood, which is properly what is called common ously expresses truth and is in contact with truth,
sense or reason, is naturally equal in all men”. becoming a messenger of it. This is an exceptional
quality, because truth holds in itself an immense
Common sense is an ensemble of ideas about the hidden force. Let us remember the words filled with
world, about life and the human being, and although wisdom of Jesus Christ: “Know the truth and the truth