Q. What is common sense? How are common knowledge and sociology related to each other? Explain.

Model Answer:

Common Sense and Its Relationship with Sociology

Common sense refers to routine, taken-for-granted knowledge and beliefs people use to navigate daily life. It represents practical wisdom derived from everyday experiences, accepted uncritically as self-evident truth within particular societies.

Nature of Common Sense

Common sense knowledge is characterized by its unsystematic and localized nature. It often contains contradictions—for instance, ‘birds of a feather flock together’ versus ‘opposites attract.’ This everyday knowledge is culturally specific, varying across societies, and relies on immediate personal observations rather than critical examination.

Sociology’s Dialectical Relationship with Common Knowledge

• Point of Departure: Sociology begins with common-sense observations but subjects them to rigorous empirical testing and theoretical scrutiny rather than accepting them at face value

• Scientific Approach: Unlike the unreflective nature of common sense, sociology employs systematic research methods. Emile Durkheim’s study on suicide exemplified this by challenging the common-sense view of suicide as purely individualistic, revealing its connection to social integration and regulation

• Sociological Imagination: C. Wright Mills emphasized connecting personal troubles to public issues—linking individual unemployment to economic recession—a perspective absent in common-sense reasoning

• Debunking Role: Peter Berger noted sociology’s function in revealing hidden social forces behind “obvious” truths

Sociology thus maintains a critical relationship with common sense, using it as a starting point while transcending its limitations through systematic, evidence-based analysis of social phenomena.