On “The Temptation to Attack Common Sense”

Abstract

In The Blue Book (BB, pp. 58–59), Wittgenstein defends common sense as a guide for our thinking and as a relief from mental discomfort. It might stand as a powerful educational ideal. Wittgensteinian common sense is related to the practice of rule-following. While theories, practices and even norms evolve or change, the mastering of rule-following is what keeps us within the community and within the realm of reason, that is, within common sense. Stepping outside amounts to mental discomfort. There is, however, a downside: His attachment to ordinary language “as it is” might be considered a conservative by-product of this argument. Yet such an implication can be avoided. Common sense is a promising educational ideal—if only we do not take Wittgenstein too literally. It is an ideal that, in education today, is currently under attack from various sources.