Quotation
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“Good sense is the most evenly distributed thing in the world.”
René Descartes · Rationalism · Early modern · 1637
What does it mean?
The usual reading takes the sentence as a premise with a sting: the power of judging well is shared, so disagreement is not explained by a private stock of reason some people simply lack. He adds that nobody wants more good sense than they have, which is why the distribution looks equal. A rival reading hears a democratic claim that every opinion is equally well formed, which he does not hold, since the book is about method precisely because good sense is not enough without a way of using it. The line opens the Discourse.
Did René Descartes really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. The opening of the Discourse on the Method, in the English of the Cottingham, Stoothoff, and Murdoch edition. Descartes wrote it in French. He immediately adds that everyone thinks they have enough of it, which is the joke and the premise. This wording is a translation.
Where it comes from
Discourse on the Method, part 1
Approximate date: 1637.
How to use it
A row in a residents' group in Croydon is not, on this opening, settled by declaring that one side lacks a mind. He thinks the capacity is widely shared, and that the difference is haste, prejudice, and method. That does not make the row a tie; It means the next step is to look at how judgement is being used, not at who is allowed to have any.
A mindset reading
The sentence flatters, and he knows it flatters, which is why the next sentences matter. If everyone is content with their share, the contentment is evidence of the problem as much as of the equality. Using the line to stop a criticism, on the ground that good sense is evenly shared and therefore this opinion must be fine, drops the book that follows; The equality is of a capacity; It is not a certificate.
Understand the philosophy
The Discourse is a public French introduction to a method for directing the reason and seeking truth in the sciences. The key term is good sense, bon sens, the power of judging well and distinguishing the true from the false, which he also calls reason. Part one explains why a shared power still produces opposed views. Cottingham's English is the standard modern translation of the philosophical works, alongside the French of 1637.
- knowledge
- mind
- society
FAQ
What does it mean?
The usual reading takes the sentence as a premise with a sting: the power of judging well is shared, so disagreement is not explained by a private stock of reason some people simply lack. He adds that nobody wants more good sense than they have, which is why the distribution looks equal. A rival reading hears a democratic claim that every opinion is equally well formed, which he does not hold, since the book is about method precisely because good sense is not enough without a way of using it. The line opens the Discourse.
Did René Descartes really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. The opening of the Discourse on the Method, in the English of the Cottingham, Stoothoff, and Murdoch edition. Descartes wrote it in French. He immediately adds that everyone thinks they have enough of it, which is the joke and the premise. This wording is a translation.
Which work is it in?
Discourse on the Method, part 1 Approximate date: 1637.