Common Sense, Essay Example

The 18^th-century pamphlet Common Sense, authored by British polemicist Thomas Paine, argued in favor of revolution against British rule by American colonists. The primary thrust of Paine’s thesis was predicated on the notion that rejection of rule by divine authority was so clearly reasonable and rational as to be easily understood by all. Paine chose to forego the use of the sort of high-minded rhetoric favored by many of his contemporary revolutionaries, rhetoric which was often steeped in the ideals of the era now referred to as the Age of Enlightenment. By grounding his call for revolution in simple, clear, and direct language, Paine’s words reached a broad audience, and helped to stir revolutionary fervor among the common man, a fervor which had theretofore largely been the province of the privileged and the well-educated. The term “common sense” had originally been coined by Aristotle to describe the combined effect in the mind of the totality of the physical sense; by the age of Paine, however, the term was generally ascribed to the set of knowledge about and understanding of the world that most people shared. What Paine understood is that common sense is not universal or inherent, and can be shaped or informed by new and different ideas. I learned one of my most important lessons about common sense at a young age, and realized even then that common sense is now always so common.

The events of the day were not particularly notable or unusual; I was on an outing with my family to visit the city, do some shopping, and have lunch at my mother’s favorite restaurant. I could not have been more than five or six years old, and my memories of that day are appropriately vague and likely jumbled together with remembered details and later recollections offered by my mother and father. What I do recall is that in my excitement to enter a department store I ran ahead of my parents, inadvertently stepping in front of an adult who was about to step through the entrance. As swiftly as I was moving, my mother was even swifter, and she caught ne by the arm and pulled me back before I could complete my entry inside the building. I watched as my mother apologized to the woman whom I had cut off and held the door for her, allowing her to enter as I, my father, and my mother waited out turn. Still holding my arm, my mother looked down at me with a mildly disappointed expression on her face, and said “you will go much farther in life if you mind your manners.”

This lesson in common sense from my mother seems deceptively simple, but it shaped much of my worldview. It also made me realize that common sense is not always so common; while most people might agree that good manners and adherence to a modicum of social etiquette are common-sense ideals, the practical reality is that such social graces appear to fading in relevance in the age of the Internet and instant gratification. Despite the marked discrepancy between the idealization of politeness and the less-than-idealized manifestation of same in daily living, I continue to believe that it is common sense that using good manners and being polite is inherently superior to the alternative.