• Common sense and scientific method 04/05/2017

  The scientific method is a wonderful accomplishment. It is in certain areas the best elaboration of the Enlightenment’s call to leave superstition and arbitrariness behind and to begin to think for ourselves. I explore in the book how science is continuous with common sense and how it could be an improvement or elevation of common … Continue reading “Common sense and scientific method”

• We may have passed the optimum of specialisation 03/05/2017

  There are lots of cases of expertise with a human face. Care robots may be one, perhaps, as is the internet, smartphones, endoscopic surgery, and so on. My book is not an attempt to blame, decry or reject expertise. But I see a problem in hyperspecialisation, in narrow forms of expertise, that promises us great … Continue reading “We may have passed the optimum of specialisation”

• The investigative attitude 02/05/2017

  The basic idea of the investigative attitude is simply that of being aware of the fact that a situation is puzzling but that you don’t know which is the best question to ask about it. You are puzzled, but you do not know how exactly to articulate your puzzlement. I contrast this kind of puzzlement … Continue reading “The investigative attitude”

• Language, humankind and expertise 01/05/2017

  I place significant emphasis on the way human beings rely upon language. We are talking animals, I argue. We live by and in language. We do what we do under certain descriptions. We articulate our reasons for what we do and ask others for their explanations and justifications. This all comes very naturally in the … Continue reading “Language, humankind and expertise”

• Common sense and intuition 30/04/2017

  Common sense is an attitude towards our environment that can be summarized by the slogan: Automatic pilot if possible and investigative attitude if necessary. This slogan nicely captures the fact that there is no need to acquire common sense. Everybody always already possesses it. Yet, we can always continue to improve and edify our common … Continue reading “Common sense and intuition”