# Common sense as the ultimate standard of morality?



## cih1355 (Jan 20, 2007)

How would you respond to someone who says that common sense is the ultimate standard of good and evil?


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## No Longer A Libertine (Jan 20, 2007)

I would ask them to define common sense, is it cultural, what standard is common?

Who sets such standards, what if my common reaction is to bludgeon to death those I disagree with?


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## Scott Bushey (Jan 20, 2007)

cih1355 said:


> How would you respond to someone who says that common sense is the ultimate standard of good and evil?



For the unregenerate, I guess that would be the typical theory as spiritual things are 'foolishness' to them. So, from their perspective, I would have to agree. My next question might go something like this: Are you an atheist? If he says, 'No', he will shoot himself in the foot and you can take it from there accordingly.


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## Vytautas (Jan 20, 2007)

cih1355 said:


> How would you respond to someone who says that common sense is the ultimate standard of good and evil?



Ask for an example where common sense is used to deside what is good or evil. For example, is man basicly good or evil? Is government good or evil? And so on.


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## Devin (Jan 20, 2007)

Well, it'd be hard to use the words "ultimate" and "standard" of common sense because it's rather subjective. 

Whose common sense do you follow? The common sense of the Americans, the Brits, the South Africans, the Chinese, humanity as a whole? 

If you can get an answer to that, then I'd have to ask the same question in a different way: 

Whose common sense do you follow? The common sense of people in the first century, the fifth century, the 21st century, etc? Then ask them to justify their answer and so such.

Hopefully after asking a bunch of questions like this, common sense will be seen as anything but a standard.


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