ABSTRACT
Few notions have received as little attention in the historiography of economic thought as the notion of common sense. Yet, when one reads some of the classical texts in the history of economics, such as those of Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall or Maynard Keynes, one might notice references to expressions such as ‘ordinary affairs of life’, ‘experience of everyday life’ or ‘conduct of practical life’ in addition to direct references to ‘common sense’. Often, the significance to these references is overlooked because due attention is not given to ‘common sense’ as a conceptual framework. The term ‘common sense’ is one of those ancient terms, ingrained in Western intellectual discourse, that has acquired many different connotations along the centuries. However, it was with the Scottish Enlightenment that common sense flourished and developed as a concept, a philosophical ‘term of art’, a merging of old notions of common sense (dating back to Aristotle and Avicenna) to address new philosophical problems.
