Philosophy Science Common sense

Author: Chen Jiaying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-05
Features: A thrilling and engaging philosophical work like an adventure novel
Philosophy initially sought truth and understanding of the world we inhabit. The "principles" of philosophical theory derive from common sense (or common understanding) and organize them into a coherent system. Philosophers constructed theoretical systems using natural language, believing they could explain all phenomena. Looking back at philosophy, all efforts to seek universality over the millennia have failed. Perhaps this is precisely because philosophy relies so heavily on common sense. Philosophical systems are developed based on common understanding and natural concepts.
Scientists, on the other hand, first reduce everyday experience to "experiments" and shape a new logic with precise and rigorous definitions—the language of mathematics. This language transcends the diverse and complex world of life, and precisely because of this, a powerful and universally explanatory theoretical system becomes truly possible. Science also seeks truth, but it is not satisfied with the truth of the world we passively experience. Through instruments and experiments, it interrogates nature, forcing it to reveal deeper secrets. To explain these secrets, the ancient wisdom and methods gradually prove insufficient. Common-sense rationality is no longer enough, and people learn to rely on mathematical rationality.
The year 1642 may be particularly meaningful. Galileo died that year, and Newton was born the same year. Russell once recommended this fact to readers who believed in the reincarnation of souls. Galileo and Newton can be said to have "collaborated" to create modern science. Galileo was a giant, introducing modern scientific concepts and methods to a wide range of fields. Newton was also a giant, giving modern science its complete form.
In the book, Chen Jiaying quotes Westfall, who summarized that the entire Western world began, starting from the 17th century, to transform a culture centered on Christianity into the present culture centered on science. From Newton onwards, we have a scientific worldview that "replaced a qualitative, tangible world in which we live, love, and die with a quantitative, geometrically materialized world, where everything has its place, except for humanity" (Quine's words).
The accumulation of human knowledge begins with "common sense," and it is also common sense that provides the background framework for the theoretical and systematic development of knowledge (i.e., science and philosophy). However, on one hand, the development of modern and contemporary science has increasingly distanced itself from common sense experiences, and the explanatory power of scientific theories no longer relies on common sense or intuitive understanding. On the other hand, philosophy's efforts to organize and reconstruct common sense to achieve universal explanation have been in vain. Thus, we face the division between two worlds: one is a loose and scattered common-sense world, and the other is a systematic scientific world.
The question is, how can these two worlds communicate with each other? Philosophy, Science, and Common Sense proposes that this may be the task of philosophy today.