Sociology and Common Sense
Table of Contents
Commonsense knowledge is the routine knowledge people have of their everyday world and activities.
The common-sense explanations are generally based on what may be called ‘naturalistic’ and/or individualistic explanation based on taken for granted knowledge.
Sociology has its tryst with common sense since long time and it has been accused of being no more than common sense right from its birth.
Example: “Women are more emotional than men”.
Thinkers’ view:
- Andre Beteille: Sociological knowledge tends to be general, if not universal, on the other hand commonsense knowledge is particular and localised.
- Durkheim: Sociology must break free of the prejudice of commonsense perceptions before it can produce scientific knowledge of the social world.
- Marxists: Most commonsense knowledge is ideological or at least very limited in its understanding of the world.
- Anthony Giddens: Sociological knowledge also becomes part of common-sense knowledge sometimes. For example – sociological research into marital breakdown has led people to believe that marriage is a risky proposition.
Relationship between Common Sense and Sociology
- Sociology draws a great deal from commonsense as the former touches the everyday experiences of lay persons. As a result, there is a tendency to use one in place of the other.
- Sociological knowledge tends to be general, if not universal, on the other hand commonsense knowledge is particular and localised.
- Commonsense is not only localised it is also unreflective since it does not question its own origin and presuppositions.
- Further, sociology also helps us to show that commonsense is highly variable.
- Sociology helps us to understand a society and this could be deepened and broadened by systematic comparison between one society with other whereas commonsense is not in a position to reach such an understanding. This becomes possible because sociology makes use of its tools and techniques for systematic investigation of the object while commonsense involves preconception, which is rejected by sociology.
- Commonsense easily constructs imaginary social arrangements which is utopian whereas sociology is anti-utopian in its central preoccupation with the disjunction between ideal and reality in human societies.
- Sociology is also anti-fatalistic in its orientation. It does not accept the particular constraints taken for granted by commonsense as eternal or immutable. It provides a clearer awareness than commonsense of the range of alternatives that have been or may be devised for the attainment of broadly the same ends.
- Sociology is further value neutral and free of all forms of biases and value judgements but commonsense is often a source of biases and errors.
- Commonsense knowledge is the routine knowledge people have of their everyday world and activities.
Different sociological approaches adopt different attitudes to commonsense knowledge.
- The Commonsense concept is central to Alfred Schutz’s phenomenological sociology, where it refers to organized and typified stocks of taken for granted knowledge upon which activities are based and that in the natural attitude are not questioned.
- For ethnomethodologists commonsense or tacit knowledge is a constant achievement in which people draw on implicit rules of how to carry on and which produce a sense of organisation and coherence.
- For symbolic interactionists and other interpretive sociologists there is a less rigorous analysis of commonsense knowledge, but the central aim of sociology is seen as explicating and elaborating people’s conceptions of the social world
- For Durkheim sociology must break free of the prejudice of commonsense perceptions before it can produce scientific knowledge of the social world.
- For Marxists much commonsense knowledge is ideological or at least very limited in its understanding of the world. Therefore, to begin with we should see the difference between knowledge derived from commonsense and those having origin in sociological research and systematic methods.
How Common-sense aids Sociology?
- Common sense aids sociologists in forming hypotheses: For instance, common sense might suggest that individuals from rural areas are more community-oriented. Sociologists can use this assumption to investigate social bonds in rural vs. urban settings, which can either validate or challenge the hypothesis.
- Common sense provides foundational ideas for sociological research: For example, the stereotype that people with higher education are less likely to commit crimes can be a starting point for research. Sociologists might explore crime rates in relation to education levels to test this belief.
- It also enriches sociology by questioning its findings: If common sense suggests that men are naturally better suited for leadership roles, but sociological research concludes that leadership is influenced more by socialization and opportunity than by gender, this contradiction can spur further investigation into gender roles and leadership.
- Hegel argues that philosophy evolves from everyday experience, making every individual a social theorist: A worker who perceives the wage gap as unfair might not have formal training in sociology but is, in a sense, theorizing about class inequality based on lived experiences—an insight sociology can later formalize and study.
- The relationship between common sense and sociology is fluid and can be mutually reinforcing: Common sense may lead to assumptions like “technology isolates people.” Sociological studies may either confirm this (showing increased loneliness with social media use) or challenge it (finding that technology enhances certain social connections), thus refining both sociological theory and common-sense beliefs.
Differences between Common sense and Sociology
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Common sense
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Sociology
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Common sense generally takes cues from what appears on surface |
Sociology looks for inter-connections and root causes which may not be apparent |
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Common sense uses conjectures and stereotypical beliefs
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Sociology uses reason and logic
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Common sense is based upon assumptions
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Sociology is based upon evidences
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Common sense is intuitive
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Sociological knowledge is objective
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Common sense promotes status-quo
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Sociological knowledge is change oriented
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Common sense based on personal judgements
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Sociology is based on data, methods
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Common sense knowledge may be very personal and two persons may draw different conclusion of a same event based on their own common sense |
Sociological knowledge results into generalization and even theory building |
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Explanation of
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Common Sense
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Sociological
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Poverty
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People are poor because they are afraid of work, come from `problem families' are unable to budget properly, suffer from low intelligence and shiftlessness. |
Contemporary poverty is caused by the structure of inequality in class society and is experienced by those who suffer from chronic irregularity of work and low wages. |
Thus, a statement made on common sense basis may be just a guess, a hunch or a haphazard way of saying something generally based on ignorance, bias, prejudice or mistaken interpretation, though occasionally it may be wise, true, and a useful bit of knowledge.
At one-time, common-sense statements might have preserved folk wisdom but today, scientific method has become a common way of seeking truths about our social world.
Previous Year Questions
- Is Sociology common sense? Give reasons in support of your argument (2016)
- The focal point of Sociology rests on interaction. How do you distinguish it from common sense? (2018)
- How is Sociology related to common sense (2021)
- Do you think that common sense is the starting point of social research? What are its advantages & limitations? Explain (2023)
Important Keywords
Commonsense, Routine Knowledge, Sociology, Granted Knowledge, Andre Beteille, Durkheim, Anthony Giddens, Everyday Experiences, Localised, Unreflective, Anti-utopian, Anti-fatalistic, Value neutral, Phenomenological sociology, Ethnomethodologists, Symbolic interactionists, Hypothesis, Status-quo and Starting point of social research.
