Formal ontology, common sense and cognitive science essay


In order to be able to explore and understand each of the above topics, it is important to first find the individual definitions. For instance, common sense is often defined as a sense of cognition that is possessed by man and all other animals. This is a sense that enables them to identify various objects, shapes, and sizes . The knowledge of these things occurs to these animals naturally as they are not taught to them, hence the reason it is referred to as common. In psychology, common sense has been described to be a sense that occurs beyond just the physical cognition. It is also the ability to recognize and judge a situation in the right manner, even without the person being able to explain the choices that he makes.

Cognitive science is defined as a science that deals with the mind as well as the processes that take place within the mind1. It seeks to understand what cognition is and how it works. This means that it will look at things such as how the mind is able to conceive process and understand situations. The field of cognitive science encompasses several other studies such as the study of memory, cognition, language, perception, and reasoning.
Ontology is a term that is used to generally describe the nature of being or of existence. The reason that these three things are put together in one study is that they are all related to one another in one way or another, for example, the art of cognition is closely tied to that of common sense because common sense in essence means the ability of a person or an animal to have cognition skills that occur to them naturally. When understanding ontology, one is able to study the existence if the animal, which will include any processes that happen to these animals, such as the ability to develop cognitive skills some of which are then referred to as common sense.

Common sense realism

Common realism has been defined by philosophers as the notion that we all live in a world where natural cognition take place. This is bearing in mind that the ability of an animal to have certain natural cognitive abilities is one of the main definitions that have been given for common sense . Therefore, common sense realism is based on a number of facts such as that we believe that our natural ability to be cognizant to certain phenomena is an ability that is received naturally thus the reason it is called common sense. This may be countered by the fact that by it being called common sense, and our ability to recognize certain aspects of this world has been brought about by the fact that we have been in existence with the world for a long time and hence have acquired these skills over time.

This theory also brings to the table the fact that the common sense world exists separately from human beings. This means that it is quite possible to explain and understand the phenomenon of the common sense world using any other creatures that have existed without the mention of human beings. However, one will find that all of these creatures possess a different version of what could be referred to as common sense from the human perspective. This means that the common sense world is still able to be in existence without the human contribution to it.

Common sense realism can therefore be said to be the ability of the world to have the aspect of common sense without having to depend on the existence of humans for it. This is just one part of several other realisms, which are all also described as the existence of certain phenomena independently of human beings.

There are, however arguments about these realisms that are put across by other forms of realism that have been brought into existence because they have been studied from the human point of view . This is to say that for one to be able to positively identify the existence of these realisms, they have to use the human existence or the human perspective for their description and proof. One of these realisms is one that is known as linguistic realism, which is the existence of the lingual part of the world. Linguistic realism can therefore only be proven by its significance in human beings thus meaning it is not possible for it to exist if the human being does not exit, since it is the only beneficiary to that particular creature. This, therefore, means that although there are those kinds of realisms that can be defined even without having to find their connection to human beings, there are those other which can only be proven through their direct connections to human beings. It is almost as if to say that their existence is directly dependent on the need of human beings for them to exist.


Appearance and reality

Most of the common cognitive abilities that we possess as humans are not very accurate and truthful. This is owing to the fact that we are all often able to have varied cognitive abilities that enable us to see things differently from one another. Therefore, it is important that this be factored into the issues regarding the existence of common sense . As such, common sense is able to find a balance between two different issues regarding our cognitive abilities and what really does exist. This is to say that common sense finds a middle ground for that which we have perceived from our cognitive abilities, and that which truly does exist even when we don’t perceive it as such. This is what is meant by reality and appearance. Reality in this case means that which exists even without us seeing it as such while appearance is that which exists by the mere fact that our cognitive abilities inform us of their existence. This means that there can only be one reality, while appearance may take many forms, remembering from the point that was given earlier that all humans as well as animals have varied abilities and thus many see a single situation in many different ways.

Despite the fact that human beings have varied cognitive skills and thus their description of the appearance is also varied, they all possess the ability to strike a balance between the world as we see it and the world as it really is. This means that even when our abilities tell us things that are different, we are already aware of them as they are, and therefore we are able to identify parts of the things we recognize that are different only as deformities of what they should actually be. This is what has been referred to by psychologists as phenomena of consistency. It is often with reference to those things that have remained constant in the world, despite the many differences between humans and animals. Such include colors, shapes and distance. When we are able to have the general recognition of some of these forms, we are then able to recognize the deformities and things that are not occurring and existing in the manner that they’re intended for. Human beings then begin to develop the need to bring those things back to what we know they should be through such processes as problem solving.

The phenomenon of common sense in human beings, therefore, encompasses a lot of things. First of all, it is the ability of human beings to come to the recognition of certain forms or phenomena within their environment. It can also refer to the ability of human beings to recognize a certain phenomenon as it is really is and not as we have perceived it to be. Finally, it is the ability to put these two together in a way that we are able to develop the need to bring that phenomenon back to what we know that it should be that it is currently not.

Common sense and physics

Here again, the various forms of common sense come into play. This is because in this instance again, we are brought to the attention of two different realisms; that which already exists autonomously and that which has been laid out by physics . According to Smith, realists in these cases are able to argue that the realism that is most relevant is that which is able to exist on its own without needing human existence for its explanation. The one that is laid out by physics, is only a cultural artifact, due to the fact that it exists because it has been brought in by human perceptions and without the existence of humans, there would be no way of explaining this phenomenon.

It would be possible to say that common sense realism is a piece of the physics realism. This is because there are certain aspects of the common sense realism that have also been given some degree of coverage or of credibility by physics. Physical realism is of the opinion that there are various aspects of life that in order to be understood must be studied in a much deeper methods, some of which are already covered in the common sense realism.

However, in contracts, there are also those phenomena that while receiving recognition in the common sense realism, have failed to have a place in the physics realism. Therefore, this means that despite the fact that it is important for common sense realism and physical realism to strike some sort of balance, there are instances where it seems that the common sense realism has gone over the physics one.


The phenomenon of realism as has been seen in this passage, takes different forms depending on the angle that it is being looked at. For instance, it has been found that the theory of reality and appearance is of the notion that human beings have perceptions regarding certain phenomena that may be different from what they are in the real sense. It has also been mentioned that there are various types of realisms, each of them having varied philosophies depending on the method that they have been studied. There are also those kinds of realisms that exist due to the mere fact that human beings have recognized them and are at a better position to explain them. There are also those that exist even without humans and whose understanding does not depend on human understanding or explanations. However, the issue of common sense in humans is the ability of us to find a balance between that which we perceive the world and certain aspects of it to be, and what it really is and will continue to be whether the human being exists to explain it or not.


Formal ontology, common sense and cognitive science essay

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