Common Sense Theory Research Articles

Common sense, uncommon sense: Tejumola Olaniyan in the theorization of African postcolonial Drama

This paper engages Tejumola Olaniyan’s “Femi Osofisan: The Form of Uncommon Sense.” The essay in question undertakes a reading of a representative selection from the corpus of Femi Osofisan’s plays, employing the theory of uncommon sense which Olaniyan himself formulated. Olaniyan projects uncommon sense as a reflection on Antonio Gramsci’s theory of common sense put forward in his Selections from Prison Notes. He presents it as a new dimension of contemplation which explores new possibilities and unsettles old conclusions. To prove his position that Osofisan’s plays represent the form of uncommon sense, Olaniyan rifles through the playwright’s oeuvre and produces detailed readings of some of the works using the theory. I undertake three main tasks in this paper. First, I evaluate the accuracy of the positions taken by Olaniyan on some of the plays of Osofisan that he investigates using the theory of uncommon sense. Second, while affirming that uncommon sense as formulated by Olaniyan is seminal, I try to see whether it is not possible to re-constitute this principle around the notion of cultural hegemony that Gramsci is best known for. Finally, I attempt an application of the reconfigured theory in the analysis of Ama Ata Aidoo’s Anowa

A Theoretically Grounded Question Answering Data Set for Evaluating Machine Common Sense

ABSTRACT Achieving machine common sense has been a longstanding problem within Artificial Intelligence. Thus far, benchmark data sets that are grounded in a theory of common sense and can be used to conduct rigorous, semantic evaluations of common sense reasoning (CSR) systems have been lacking. One expectation of the AI community is that neuro-symbolic reasoners can help bridge this gap towards more dependable systems with common sense. We propose a novel benchmark, called Theoretically Grounded common sense Reasoning (TG-CSR), modeled as a set of question answering instances, with each instance grounded in a semantic category of common sense, such as space, time, and emotions. The benchmark is few-shot i.e., only a few training and validation examples are provided in the public release to avoid the possibility of overfitting. Results from recent evaluations suggest that TG-CSR is challenging even for state-of-the-art statistical models. Due to its semantic rigor, this benchmark can be used to evaluate the common sense reasoning capabilities of neuro-symbolic systems.

Consent-deception: a feminist cultural media theory of commonsense consent

This article draws on feminist cultural studies, media and cultural theory, and engages with feminist law and criminology, to argue for a newly invigorated conceptualisation of consent in feminist theory. Rather than advance a particular feminist theory of consent, the article argues for a feminist cultural media theory of commonsense consent that is both sensory and representational. This theory acknowledges that there is no concept of consent reserved for sexual encounters. Rather, a more universal, commonsense theory, shaped as much by twentieth-century media as eighteenth-century political philosophy, informs how consent shows up to social experience. The article offers a revision of feminist discussions about consent in law, political philosophy and cultural studies, proposing that accounts such as Laura Kipnis’ Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus can be read as descriptions of consent's affective structure. Feminist accounts have underestimated the implications of the involvement of media, from early cinema through to contemporary social media, in co-locating consent with deception. This article shows how the media concept of consent-deception plays a role in suspicion and betrayal, both of which act as consent's structures of feeling. To further probe an enquiry into how personalised media are transforming commonsense consent, the article discusses the TV programme The Tinder Swindler. Various production techniques encourage a view of social media as a complete encapsulation of the social life and affectivity of consent-deception, suggesting a number of implications for a feminist cultural media theory of commonsense consent. In particular, the programme asks us to problematise the evidentiary status of informational social media linked to the changing perceptibility of consent-deception.

Attention-Based Multi-View Feature Collaboration for Decoupled Few-Shot Learning

Decoupled Few-shot learning (FSL) is an effective methodology that deals with the problem of data-scarce. Its standard paradigm includes two phases: (1) Pre-train. Generating a CNN-based feature extraction model (FEM) via base data. (2) Meta-test. Employing the frozen FEM to obtain the novel data features, then classifying them. Obviously, one crucial factor, the category gap, prevents the development of FSL, i.e., it is challenging for the pre-trained FEM to adapt to the novel class flawlessly. Inspired by a common-sense theory: the FEMs based on different strategies focus on different priorities, we attempt to address this problem from the multi-view feature collaboration (MVFC) perspective. Specifically, we first denoise the multi-view features by subspace learning method, then design three attention blocks (loss-attention block, self-attention block and graph-attention block) to balance the representation between different views. The proposed method is evaluated on four benchmark datasets and achieves significant improvements of 0.9%-5.6% compared with SOTAs.

How is Sociological Knowledge Possible? Influences of Kantian Epistemology in Max Weber’s ‘Verstehende Soziologie’ and the Problem of Objectivity

Kant’s ‘Copernican Revolution’ has caused a radical change in the common-sense theory of knowledge. The subject became the centre and the necessary premise for the validity of the objective world. This change in the understanding of knowledge has best manifested itself in Weber’s ‘Verstehende Soziologie’. Therefore, in order to understand the Weberian sociological method and to be able to detect the possible problems that may arise from his sociology, a better grasp of what Kantian epistemology is and in what ways it has influenced Weberian sociology is needed. Accordingly, this paper will firstly analyse Kantian epistemology with a special emphasis on transcendental idealism, and will expand and explain in detail Weber’s ‘Verstehende Soziologie’. Next, the paper will show how Weberian sociology relates to Kantian epistemology through the construction of ideal types. Before concluding, the focus moves to the objectivity claim of both Kantian epistemology and Weberian sociology and shows how objectivity arises from subjectivity through the establishment of causality. Finally, the paper will propose an objection to the objectivity claim of Weberian sociology and will argue that Kantian epistemology, when adopted as a method of sociology, becomes reflexive and threatens to deprive sociology of its objectivity claim.

“It kinda has like a mind”: Children's and parents' beliefs concerning viral disease transmission for COVID-19 and the common cold

How people reason about disease transmission is central to their commonsense theories, scientific literacy, and adherence to public health guidelines. This study provided an in-depth assessment of U.S. children's (ages 5–12, N = 180) and their parents' (N = 125) understanding of viral transmission of COVID-19 and the common cold, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary aim was to discover children's causal models of viral transmission, by asking them to predict and explain counter-intuitive outcomes (e.g., asymptomatic disease, symptom delay) and processes that cannot be directly observed (e.g., viral replication, how vaccines work). A secondary aim was to explore parental factors that might contribute to children's understanding. Although even the youngest children understood germs as disease-causing and were highly knowledgeable about certain behaviors that transmit or block viral disease (e.g., sneezing, mask-wearing), they generally failed to appreciate the processes that play out over time within the body. Overall, children appeared to rely on two competing mental models of viruses: one in which viruses operate strictly via mechanical processes (movement through space), and one in which viruses are small living creatures, able to grow in size and to move by themselves. These results suggest that distinct causal frameworks co-exist in children's understanding. A challenge for the future is how to teach children about illness as a biological process without also fostering inappropriate animism or anthropomorphism of viruses.

Концепция «места» Накамуры Юдзиро

The ideas of Nishida Kitaro, in particular his concept of the “logic of place,” had a significant impact on many Japanese philosophers of the 20th century, and not only those who belonged to the Kyoto school. We can say that the very category of place has acquired the status of a universal cognitive (ontognoseological) metaphor, widely used in a variety of contexts. Nakamura, like many other mod­ern Japanese philosophers, uses the concept of place as a frame that allows us to view reality as a dynamic network of multi-level connections and interactions. The works of the Tokyo philosopher Nakamura Yujiro, whose scientific activity took place in the last third of the 20th – early 21st centuries, is a vivid example of the further development of the theory of place at the modern level, confirming its heuristic possibilities. The article is devoted to the analysis of Nakamura’s views in his books Topos Theory, Common Sense Theory and Predicative World and Systems, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the use of topological meta­phors in various fields of both natural science and philosophy, contributing to the development of modern ontological and epistemological theories. The con­ducted research demonstrates the potential of Asian philosophical traditions, which should be taken into account while solving the problems facing modern philosophy.

The Theory of Common Sense: Aristotle and Kant

The Theory of Common Sense: Aristotle and Kant

The Theory of Common Sense: Aristotle and Kant

공통감각 개념은 희랍 시대의 아리스토텔레스를 출발점으로 하여 현대에 이르기까지 여러 학자들에 의해 조명되어 왔다. 물론 아리스토텔레스의 공통감각 개념이 후대의 학자들에게 그 본래의 의미 그대로 전승되었을 것이라는 소망은 그 긴 시간 만큼이나 이루기 불가능한 것이다. 그럼에도 불구하고 공통감각론이 아리스토텔레스의 공통감각 개념을 그 근원으로 하는 것인 한, 공통감각에 관한 후대의 학자들의 논의는 완전히 새로운 것일 수 없다. 공통감각에 관한 칸트의 논의가 관심의 대상이 되는 것은 바로 이러한 이유에서이다. 아리스토텔레스의 공통감각은 보통의 감각, 이른바 오감을 성립시키는 ‘원천’으로서 개인 안을 이루는 영혼의 능력을 가리킨다. 칸트의 공통감각은, 적어도 맥크릴이 보기에 사회적 의미를 지니는 것으로서 집단적 지성에 해당하는 것으로 해석될 여지가 있지만, ‘판단능력의 이념으로서의 선험적인 것’이라는 칸트의 설명에 주목할 때, 그의 공통감각은 아리스토텔레스의 공통감각 이론이 성립하기 위한 선험적 조건을 보다 분명히 드러내는 것으로 해석될 수 있다. 칸트의 공통감각 이론은 아리스토텔레스의 공통감각 이론에 선험성을 보탬으로써 공통감각 개념에 희미하게 드리워져 있던 경험적 베일을 비로소 완전히 벗어던진 셈이다.

Slowing the treadmill for a good life for All? German trade union narratives and social-ecological transformation

The “treadmill of production” economic system increasingly threatens to undermine the foundations of future human welfare. While urgent action is needed, conceptualisations of “the good life” (TGL) as the “imperial mode of living” (IML) of overconsumption are justifications upholding the system and driving forces behind the crises. German trade unions, which, as part of the historic bloc of the growth coalition, have tried to delay climate action in the name of jobs through “praising work”, have supported the hegemonic common sense of IML-TGL. This is an obstacle to environmental union organisation and progressive coalitions for social-ecological transformation. To investigate whether and to what extent divergent good sense counter-hegemonic narratives are present within German trade union discourses, we analyse the narratives of TGL and good work within the three biggest German unions – ver.di, IG Metall, and IG BCE – using Gramsci’s theory of common sense. We find that counter-narratives of TGL are present to different degrees within the unions and amongst interviewees. These can provide entry points for counter-hegemonic narratives of TGL and alliances with societal actors fighting for “solidary modes of living”, or a Good Life for All within planetary boundaries.

Pre-service Teachers' Representations About Children's Learning: A Pilot Study

Background:Research on teachers' representations of children's learning is currently ongoing. Social representations are common-sense theories built and shared in everyday interactions. Their analysis can detect the possible differences between teachers’ naïve beliefs and scientific learning theories. Objective: The objective of this pilot study is to analyse the beliefs about children’s learning of a group of teachers. The beliefs will be related to the most acknowledged learning theories. Methods: A mixed methods research was employed to analyse 100 pre-service teachers’ representations of the origins of learning and the psychological processes involved. Results: It emerged from the results that the teachers interviewed consider children’s learning mainly as culturally acquired, which reveals the prevailing constructivist conception of learning. Many pre-service primary school teachers, however, tend to see learning as mere ‘transfer of information’; many pre-service kindergarten teachers perceive learning as ‘behaviour modification’. The most considered psychological aspects are ‘knowledge’ and ‘acquisition’, while emotions are barely considered. Conclusion: Linking implicit theories and disciplinary theories could support pre-service teachers in integrating the theory and the practice of learning so as to understand the way their models influence their educational choices.

Detecting Victim Blaming Biases Using Social Media

ABSTRACT In attempts to identify and remove biased individuals from a pool of potential jurors, attorneys have resorted to real-time social media investigations, looking at the opinions and affiliations of candidates. Attorneys’ conclusions are based less on founded research and more on their own personal opinions and common-sense theories. This study investigated the relationship between self-reported Facebook “sharing”/“liking” behavior and victim blaming in a sexual assault scenario. Using an online questionnaire, participants indicated how they would interact with controversial memes and news articles on Facebook, gave a recommended verdict and sentencing length for a sexual assault vignette, as well as completed a rape myth acceptance scale. Logistic and linear regression analyses showed that both gender and liberal sharing behavior were significant predictors of verdict decision and sentencing length. Women were more likely to find a defendant guilty than men, and jurors who share more liberal-leaning posts on Facebook were more likely to give a longer sentencing length. Results suggest that Facebook post-sharing could be a useful gauge of jurors’ attitudes.

The Invention of Glass, Microscopes and Telescopes - The Advancement of Microbiology and Astronomy

The ultimate cause of much historical, social and cultural change is the gradual accumulation of knowledge of the human environment. The invention of glass and microscopes and telescopes, substantially increased human knowledge of the human environment. Microscopes and telescopes would not have been possible without the prior discovery of glass making and some knowledge of the law of refraction. Without the microscope we would have no knowledge of micro organisms and the causes of many diseases. Without the telescope we would probably still believe the sun and planets orbited a stationary earth. The change from an earth centered universe, the common sense theory for societies with unassisted vision, to a sun centered theory such as the Newtonian system, and then to General Relativity was inevitable. This was because the knowledge provided by unassisted vision, naturally led to an earth centered universe, the knowledge available from 17th to 19th century telescopes and mathematics led naturally to a sun centered system, such as the Newtonian system and better telescopes led naturally to a theory such as General Relativity. The human environment has a particular structure so that human knowledge of the environment is acquired in a particular order. The simplest knowledge is acquired first and more complex knowledge is acquired later. The order of discovery determines the course of human social and cultural history as knowledge of new and more efficient means of meeting human needs, results in new technology, which results in the development of new social and ideological systems. This means human social and cultural history, has to follow a particular course, a course that is determined by the structure of the human environment.

A Common-Sense Pragmatic Theory of Truth

Truth is a fundamental philosophical concept that, despite its common and everyday use, has resisted common-sense formulations. At this point, one may legitimately wonder if there even is a common-sense notion of truth or what it could look like. In response, I propose here a common-sense account of truth based on four “truisms” (to use J.L. Austin’s term) that set a baseline for how to go about building an account of truth. Drawing on both ordinary language philosophy and contemporary pragmatic approaches to truth, I defend a pragmatic, common-sense theory of truth. The result is a theory that focuses the use and function of truth while also emphasizing its “subject-independence.”

Fuzzy-Trace Theory, False Memory, and the Law

Fuzzy-trace theory (FTT) provides well-researched scientific principles that explain worrisome forms of false memory in the law. False memories are of great legal concern because memory reports are frequently the evidence that determines guilt/innocence and are sometimes the only evidence that crimes have been committed. FTT’s principles reveal errors in commonsense theories that jurors use to judge the credibility of witnesses’ memory reports. This science versus commonsense disconnect is salient in cases involving child witnesses, eyewitness identifications, and confessions. The consequences of this disconnect for justice could be ameliorated by a simple change in federal rules of evidence.

Expounding knowledge through explanations: Generic types and rhetorical-relational patterns

Abstract In this paper, we focus on contexts where the primary activity is to expound knowledge about general classes of phenomena, either by categorizing and characterizing them or by explaining them based on some theory, ranging from a commonsense folk theory to an uncommonsense scientific theory. Texts produced in such contexts include science lectures, research articles, and entries in encyclopedias. We focus on explanations, considering them across strata in terms of context, semantics, and lexicogrammar, and summarizing contributions from different research strands. Against this background, we report on a study of the registers used in secondary school chemistry textbooks in Hong Kong. We begin by summarizing a framework for classifying the contexts in which texts operate – a framework designed to allow us to differentiate different kinds of text according to the contexts they operate in. Then, we focus on one type of context – that of expounding knowledge about general classes of phenomena. Next, we identify different strategies of expounding knowledge, contrasting explanations and categorizations, and then discuss explanations in more detail. Finally, we move to the question of how these contextual types are realized semantically as texts organized as rhetorical complexes, drawing on secondary school textbooks in chemistry in particular.

Leadership Succession Practices And Employees’ Career Development In The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation

The inability of organizations to have a well-articulated Leadership Succession plan and culture has led to disruptions in operations and leadership transition crisis. Limited literature is available on the relationship between leadership succession planning and employees career development in NNPC raising debate whether the link is tenable with the corporation. In the NNPC, there is no deliberate and structured plan for leadership succession. So, this study examined the effect of leadership succession planning on employees’ career development in NNPC. The Social Cognitive Career Theory and Common-Sense Theory were used to support this research. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the research consisted of 9,024 top level, middle level and lower level management (Supervisors) staff of the NNPC who has spent more than 5years in the organization and have up to 5 years before retirement age of 60 years and sample size of 1,960 was derived using Slovin formula and purposive sampling procedure. Structured questionnaire with a six-point modified Likert- Scale was administered with a 74.6% response rate (926) copies of the questionnaires came correctly and were used for the study. The data obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that there is lack of leadership succession planning and practices in NNPC. The also revealed that there is no established career path for every employee and professional groups in NNPC. The study concludes that Leadership Succession practice have no significant effect on Employee Career Development in NNPC. The study recommends that Federal Government should empower the NNPC to put in place proper Leadership Succession planning especially in HR itself. This can be achieved when the corporation embeds a formal employee career development policy and procedure. Also, NNPC should continuously be strategizing and moving with the global trend in HR practices and to learn about future possibilities. The NNPC management and staff should align themselves with strategies to survive in the changing global business reality

Leadership Succession Practices And Employees’ Career Development In The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation

The inability of organizations to have a well-articulated Leadership Succession plan and culture has led to disruptions in operations and leadership transition crisis. Limited literature is available on the relationship between leadership succession planning and employees career development in NNPC raising debate whether the link is tenable with the corporation. In the NNPC, there is no deliberate and structured plan for leadership succession. So, this study examined the effect of leadership succession planning on employees’ career development in NNPC. The Social Cognitive Career Theory and Common-Sense Theory were used to support this research. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the research consisted of 9,024 top level, middle level and lower level management (Supervisors) staff of the NNPC who has spent more than 5years in the organization and have up to 5 years before retirement age of 60 years and sample size of 1,960 was derived using Slovin formula and purposive sampling procedure. Structured questionnaire with a six-point modified Likert- Scale was administered with a 74.6% response rate (926) copies of the questionnaires came correctly and were used for the study. The data obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that there is lack of leadership succession planning and practices in NNPC. The also revealed that there is no established career path for every employee and professional groups in NNPC. The study concludes that Leadership Succession practice have no significant effect on Employee Career Development in NNPC. The study recommends that Federal Government should empower the NNPC to put in place proper Leadership Succession planning especially in HR itself. This can be achieved when the corporation embeds a formal employee career development policy and procedure. Also, NNPC should continuously be strategizing and moving with the global trend in HR practices and to learn about future possibilities. The NNPC management and staff should align themselves with strategies to survive in the changing global business reality Keywords: Leadership succession planning, Employees career development, NNPC, Corporations, Nigeria

Beyond Tinkering: Economics after Behavioral Economics

This paper assesses the current state of law and economics, standard and behavioral, and proposes an additional element to the basic belief-desire apparatus of economic theory in order to create a more unified theory of behavior. The first part of the paper assesses the current status of standard economic theory. While standard models have had their successes, a large and growing body of empirical evidence reveals that people often fail to live up its rational-actor ideal. In response, economists usually stick with standard consumer theory and attempt to explain the anomalous results by referring to some overlooked input (e.g., some new belief) or by applying the old models in new ways (e.g., multiple-selves accounts). But there are some cases that standard approaches just can't explain, and they don't seem to have the resources needed to expand their explanatory reach. Behavioral economics, the focus of the second part of the paper, is not without problems of its own. Chief among these is that it has not coalesced into a unified theory of behavior. This is problematic because there are inconsistent (and irreconcilable) behavioral explanations for particular bits of behavior; it is also difficult to figure out how behavioral and standard accounts fit together. The root of the problem, though, is not that behavioral models are under-theorized, but that they are under-motivated. Behavioral economists often fail to draw a distinction between empirical evidence and what it is evidence for. This sort of curve fitting approach explains why behavioral explanations are less than satisfying, and also helps explain why behavioral economics has not coalesced into a unified theory. The usual methods for accommodating the empirical evidence regarding economic theory share the following feature: they take the basic economic account as canonical. Accept, reject, or tinker with the functional forms, most economists, standard and behavioral, confine themselves to thinking about the particular elements of common sense (namely, desires and beliefs) that originally inspired economic models. There is, however, another approach. Economic theory (and its successors) might be too distilled - after all, there is much more to our common-sense theory of behavior than the claim that people act to get what they want. Recognizing this possibility allows us to see that we can look for additional resources in common sense to enhance economic models in a top down instead of bottom up way. The third and final part of the paper discusses one such approach based on Frederic Schick's work on understandings. Drawn from the well of common-sense psychology, the concept of understandings presents an additional element to the basic belief-desire apparatus that underlies economic theory. The idea, in a nutshell, is that people normally consider their circumstances from a particular perspective and, as a result, they act on proper subsets of their beliefs and desires that reflect their take on their situations. This approach can be readily integrated into standard economic theory and is capable of shedding crucial light on many of the situations that give standard accounts trouble (and give rise to behavioral alternatives). As such, it is a step in the direction of a more unified theory of human behavior.

Common-Sense Causation in the Law

Judges often invoke ‘common sense’ when deciding questions of legal causation. I draw on empirical evidence to refine the common-sense theory of legal causation developed by Hart and Honore in Causation in the Law. I show that the two main common-sense principles that Hart and Honore identified are empirically well founded; I also show how experimental research into causal selection can be used to specify these principles with greater precision than before. This exploratory approach can provide legal scholars with a plausible new set of hypotheses to use in re-examining the decided cases on legal causation. If correct, the new common-sense theory that I develop has important implications not only for debates within legal scholarship, but also for judicial practice on issues of legal causation across both criminal and private law.