In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
The Ruling Mind and the Serving Mind (Common Sense) – Part Two
Common Sense (Sensus Communis)
Author: Abdul Basir Sohaib Siddiqi
Date of Publication: 08.11.2025
Translation by Tahleel Team
Practical Knowledge (Phronesis)
Practical knowledge, or phronesis, is a different type of knowledge.
This means that its purpose is situational — it is concerned with real-life situations.
Therefore, it must understand “circumstances” in all their endless variety.
According to Vico, this kind of knowledge does not depend on a system of logical reasoning or proving itself through arguments.
Its purpose is not merely to fit particular cases under general rules (subsumption), which we call judgment, but it is deeply connected to moral motivation and goodness.
This moral dimension has its roots in ancient Greek ethics, especially in the Stoic tradition, which itself was influenced by Orphic teachings — and those Orphic teachings originally came from divine revelations of Eastern societies, though they were later distorted or altered in Greek philosophy.
Moral Understanding and Phronesis
Moral understanding of practical situations means that every concrete case must be evaluated in light of general ethical goals so that the right outcome can be achieved.
This requires that moral awareness already exists within the individual.
For Aristotle, phronesis (practical wisdom) was therefore a spiritual and moral virtue.
It is not just an ability (dynamis), but a reflection of the moral existence of a person — something that cannot exist without the presence of all other moral virtues, and vice versa.
Even though this virtue helps to distinguish between what is permitted and not permitted (allowed and not allowed or erlaubt und nicht erlaubt), it is not merely about practical wisdom or general prudence.
The distinction between what is morally acceptable and what is not depends on conceptual and practical merit, meaning that an ethical viewpoint is always a necessary precondition.
Aristotle developed this idea in contrast to Plato’s concept of the Form of the Good, which was abstract.
Vico’s appeal to sensus communis is, in fact, a continuation of this Aristotelian insight — that ethics must be grounded in lived moral experience, not in abstract ideals.
Scholastic Philosophy and Common Sense
In Scholastic philosophy, Sensus Communis was further developed through Aristotle’s work De Anima (On the Soul) — as the faculty that unites the five external senses and judges their combined data.
However, for Vico, Sensus Communis means the sense of rightness and shared moral good that exists in all humans.
It is not a product of history — because history, being particular and limited, highlights differences — whereas Sensus Communis represents the universal and timeless moral sense shared by humanity.
This concept echoes the idea of Natural Law, similar to the Stoic term koinai ennoiai (common notions), which reflect the moral outlook on life in Stoic thought.
Since Orphic ethics were derived from divine Eastern teachings, Vico’s Sensus Communis can also be seen as preserving traces of that ancient revealed wisdom.
The Roman and Greek Perspectives
The term Sensus Communis is not originally Greek and is not the same as dynamis koine mentioned by Aristotle in De Anima.
It carries a broader moral and social meaning — balancing and harmonizing human perceptions and judgments.
In ancient Rome, Sensus Communis was understood differently than in Greece.
The Romans valued tradition, social life, and public ethics, whereas the Greeks were more focused on abstract, intellectual reasoning.
Thus, for Vico, the moral and historical existence of human beings — stable yet evolving — is determined by Sensus Communis.
It is a positive moral insight that reflects the social spirit of humanity beyond time and history, pointing to the moral essence shared by all people.
Sensus Communis and Truth
Knowing history is not merely about accepting other people’s testimonies; it involves moral understanding.
Therefore, when Sensus Communis and Phronesis seem to reduce the “value of truth,” this is not a denial of truth — rather, both are grounded in truth itself.
A careful reading of history shows that what societies considered permissible or forbidden was always shaped by moral reasoning.
Allah Almighty even swore by time (wal-‘Asr) to affirm that history itself is a reflection of truth, more understandable through practical reason than through pure theoretical reasoning.
Historical Thinkers: Cicero, Bacon, and Shaftesbury
Cicero viewed history as “the memory of life” (Vita memoriae) — showing that human passions and attachments cannot be governed by abstract rational rules alone.
Concrete examples from history, he argued, are needed to understand moral behavior.
Francis Bacon saw human life as a living example of philosophy — history offers the proof of thought through real experience.
Thus, there exists a kind of knowledge that justifies itself without logical argument — this is the knowledge of common sense or practical reason.
In the 18th century, Shaftesbury, like Vico, also emphasized Sensus Communis, which greatly influenced Enlightenment thinking.
He associated Sensus Communis with intelligent social humor and wit (Wit and Humour) — forms of moral and intellectual sensitivity that reveal human connection and empathy.
Common Sense as Moral and Social Virtue
In Western history, Sensus Communis was often linked with Stoic natural law, but a deeper examination shows that this moral sense originally arose from the spiritual and moral consciousness of human life — a concept that entered Western civilization from Eastern divine traditions, particularly through the Orphic teachings.
Shaftesbury understood Sensus Communis as a social virtue — not merely a natural gift given to all people, but something that grows from the heart, expressing moral empathy.
For him, wit and humor were not mere entertainment but a moral expression of harmony, friendship, and shared understanding — a reflection of the good life and human dignity.
Thus, Sensus Communis reveals a social and moral virtue, with metaphysical depth:
it represents empathy, compassion, and the aesthetic unity of human moral existence — values that connect individuals within society and give meaning to humanity itself.
Translation by Tahleel Team
