Common Sense, Analysis, and Critical Thinking

Common Sense, Analysis and Critical Thinking: Lessons from Susan Stebbing reconstructs a precise account of common sense on the basis of what Stebbing's own writing about the notion. Teresa Kouri Kissel identifies the Stebbing-inspired contextual, public, and non-justificatory features of common sense, as well as clarifying its relation to science and metaphysics. By doing so, she resolves a key tension in the philosophy of common sense between immediately knowing a commonsense truth merely on the basis of it being common sense, and being able to revise our commonsense beliefs in light of our best scientific practices.Kouri Kissel demonstrates how a reconstruction of Stebbing's views on common sense can resolve this tension in a way that no other view can, relying on a notion of probable truth, based on Stebbing's ideas of thinking directed towards a purpose. Further, she shows how such a notion of common sense could be seen as underlying Stebbing's theory of directional analysis, and her work on critical thinking. Her book ends by showing how Stebbing's methods might be applicable in philosophy and critical thinking classrooms today. By recovering Stebbing's contributions and demonstrating their relevance to contemporary philosophy, Kouri Kissel revitalizes an important historical approach.