Common sense merits only a limited empirical trust, not philosophical authority.

Evidence

In what exactly does the merit of what is normally termed “common sense” or “good sense” consist? Not just in the fact that, if only implicitly, common sense applies the principle of causality, but in the much more limited fact that in a whole range of judgments common sense identifies the exact cause, simple and to hand, and does not let itself be distracted by fancy quibbles and pseudo-profound, pseudo-scientific metaphysical mumbo-jumbo. … It was discovered indeed that in “common sense” there was a certain measure of “experimentalism” and direct observation of reality, though empirical and limited. Even today, when a similar state of affairs exists, we find the same favourable judgment on common sense, although the situation has in fact changed and the “common sense” of today has a much more limited intrinsic merit. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1247

Categorization

• DEFINE: Gramsci defines what distinguishes common sense as cognitive habit: implicit causality applied to simple, to-hand causes.
• XREF: Directly feeds the Islamophobia toolkit: common sense/ideology as the terrain where hegemonic common-sense about Muslims circulates. — connects to: Appeals to common sense and proportion serve reigning power, not truth — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 84