Understanding vision

common sense vs. science

pp. 1-15

in: Charles Landesman, The eye and the mind, Berlin, Springer, 1993

Abstract

Inquirers engaged in the scientific enterprise search for facts and laws in a methodical and deliberate way. Their claims to know are controlled by the requirements of empirical testing and logical reasoning. But not all our knowledge is scientific; a great deal of it consists of the casual and unmethodical acquisition of information as we go about our daily tasks. This common sense knowledge is directed not only at particular facts. We also acquire general views about things. Without a substantial stock of generalizations in our possession, we would be at a loss to know how to interpret and make sense out of the variety of particular facts that flood in upon us at every moment of our waking lives. If we think of theories as sets of generalizations used for interpretive and explanatory purposes, then we are theoreticians whether we know it or not. We find ourselves with general views, and in many cases we do not know how we have arrived at them.