---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Any defense of common sense must allow…"
description: "\"Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.\" — Ernest Sosa"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/ernest-sosa-12656_allow_any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-t_624311.jpg"
---

#  Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.

![“Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.” quote by Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/ernest-sosa-12656_allow_any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-t_624311.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/ernest-sosa-12656_allow_any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-t_624311.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/ernest-sosa-12656_allow_any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-t_624311.jpg)

> “Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.”

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Common sense is valuable but must stay open to revision when new evidence appears.

**In simple terms:** Common sense works but should be revisable.

Key Takeaway

Stay open to updating beliefs.

Themes

reason knowledge flexibility critical thinking

Mood

inquisitive analytical

Type

philosophical educational

When to use this quote

- decision making
- scientific research
- education curricula

Key Concepts

epistemology cognitive humility

Questions to Reflect On

- When have you changed a belief after new info?
- How can you test your assumptions?

A Different Perspective

Rigid adherence can block progress.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Common sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/)

## Related quotes

> [Freud, Jung thought, had been a great discoverer of facts about the mind, but far too inclined to leave the solid ground of "critical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-gay/freud-jung-thought-had-been-a-great-discoverer-of-facts-about-the/)

[Peter Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-gay/)

> [Common sense told us that to preserve the peace, we'd have to become strong again after years of weakness and confusion. So, we rebuilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/common-sense-told-us-that-to-preserve-the-peace-we-d-have-to-become/)

[Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/)

> [As long as a man's heart beats, as long as a man's flesh quivers, I do not allow that a being gifted with thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/as-long-as-a-man-s-heart-beats-as-long-as-a-man-s-flesh-quivers-i-do/)

[Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/)

> [By letting go, you allow everything to find it's rightful place. Once free, everything finds its way home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-brown/by-letting-go-you-allow-everything-to-find-it-s-rightful-place-once/)

[Leon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-brown/)

> [I am that which I am, and I am willing to allow all others to be that which they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/i-am-that-which-i-am-and-i-am-willing-to-allow-all-others-to-be-that/)

[Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/)

> [“Sometimes life doesn't allow us to be free to fly wherever we'd like.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elana-johnson/sometimes-life-doesn-t-allow-us-to-be-free-to-fly-wherever-we-d-like/)

[Elana Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elana-johnson/)

> [I've cosponsored legislation to establish a lend-lease program to simplify bureaucratic barriers and allow a speedier transfer of U.S. military equipment to Ukraine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-waltz/i-ve-cosponsored-legislation-to-establish-a-lend-lease-program-to/)

[Michael Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-waltz/)

> [“Allow yourself some happiness, so that I can be a part of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montgomery-mahaffey/allow-yourself-some-happiness-so-that-i-can-be-a-part-of-it/)

[Montgomery Mahaffey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montgomery-mahaffey/)

> [While we welcome people of all faiths in America we cannot be so naive as to expect all countries to do the same. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-huffington/while-we-welcome-people-of-all-faiths-in-america-we-cannot-be-so/)

[Michael Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-huffington/)

> [If you don't allow people to contribute, to offer their point of view, or to criticize what has been put before them, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/if-you-don-t-allow-people-to-contribute-to-offer-their-point-of-view/)

[Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/)

> [Nothing has power over you unless you allow it. No matter what happens, you can choose what and how to think, act, and speak!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-has-power-over-you-unless-you-allow-it-no-matter-what-happens/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Markets are designed to allow individuals to look after their private needs and to pursue profit. It's really a great invention and I wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/markets-are-designed-to-allow-individuals-to-look-after-their-private/)

[George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/)

> [Verbs allow you to communicate a story in a much more converged or involuntary way for a reader. The verbs allow you to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/verbs-allow-you-to-communicate-a-story-in-a-much-more-converged-or/)

[Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/)

> [Please don't allow anyone to make you feel less than what you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/please-don-t-allow-anyone-to-make-you-feel-less-than-what-you-are/)

[Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/)

> [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/)

[Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/)

## More by Ernest Sosa

> [Philosophers need not much use the word 'intuition' or the concept of intuition, except when they happen to be working on the epistemology of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/philosophers-need-not-much-use-the-word-intuition-or-the-concept-of/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [When you dream, your perceptual (and other) competence is affected. You are then unable to get it right competently with the beliefs in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/when-you-dream-your-perceptual-and-other-competence-is-affected-you/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [Ultimately, my more significant agreement is with a virtue tradition that features Aristotle and Descartes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/ultimately-my-more-significant-agreement-is-with-a-virtue-tradition/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [It is bad to want something that not even God could attain, especially when the impossibility becomes obvious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/it-is-bad-to-want-something-that-not-even-god-could-attain-especially/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [I am mainly concerned with unqualified knowledge, by contrast with the varieties of expert knowledge: scientific knowledge of various sorts, legal knowledge, medically expert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/i-am-mainly-concerned-with-unqualified-knowledge-by-contrast-with-the/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [If a shot aimed at aptness succeeds aptly, it is then fully apt, since it is not only apt but also aptly apt. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/if-a-shot-aimed-at-aptness-succeeds-aptly-it-is-then-fully-apt-since/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [It is also certain that when we assent to some piece of reasoning when our perception of it is lacking, then either we go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/it-is-also-certain-that-when-we-assent-to-some-piece-of-reasoning/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [We need some standard that will determine how likely a belief is to be true given just that it is stored in one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-need-some-standard-that-will-determine-how-likely-a-belief-is-to/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [Descartes's epistemology is a special case of Aristotle's virtue ethics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/descartes-s-epistemology-is-a-special-case-of-aristotle-s-virtue/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [There isn't a formal definition of success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/there-isn-t-a-formal-definition-of-success/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [Success is better than failure; an attempt is a better attempt, it is better as an attempt, if competent than if incompetent; and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/success-is-better-than-failure-an-attempt-is-a-better-attempt-it-is/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [Judgment is affirmation with the intention to thereby affirm competently enough, and indeed aptly. That distinguishes judgments from mere guesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/judgment-is-affirmation-with-the-intention-to-thereby-affirm/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [Given its more substantial aim, a judgment is apt only if its constitutive alethic affirmation is not only apt but aptly apt. The subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/given-its-more-substantial-aim-a-judgment-is-apt-only-if-its/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A better, broader perspective is properly sought if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-can-pursue-the-cartesian-project-without-restricting-ourselves-to/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

> [One does not avoid incompetence if one makes an attempt whose likelihood of success is too low. This seems little more than analytic: when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/one-does-not-avoid-incompetence-if-one-makes-an-attempt-whose/)

[Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

[Explore all 54 Ernest Sosa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/)

## More Allow quotes

> [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/)

[Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/)

> [Please don't allow anyone to make you feel less than what you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/please-don-t-allow-anyone-to-make-you-feel-less-than-what-you-are/)

[Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/)

> [Verbs allow you to communicate a story in a much more converged or involuntary way for a reader. The verbs allow you to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/verbs-allow-you-to-communicate-a-story-in-a-much-more-converged-or/)

[Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/)

> [Markets are designed to allow individuals to look after their private needs and to pursue profit. It's really a great invention and I wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/markets-are-designed-to-allow-individuals-to-look-after-their-private/)

[George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/)

> [Nothing has power over you unless you allow it. No matter what happens, you can choose what and how to think, act, and speak!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-has-power-over-you-unless-you-allow-it-no-matter-what-happens/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If you don't allow people to contribute, to offer their point of view, or to criticize what has been put before them, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/if-you-don-t-allow-people-to-contribute-to-offer-their-point-of-view/)

[Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/)

> [While we welcome people of all faiths in America we cannot be so naive as to expect all countries to do the same. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-huffington/while-we-welcome-people-of-all-faiths-in-america-we-cannot-be-so/)

[Michael Huffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-huffington/)

> [“Allow yourself some happiness, so that I can be a part of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montgomery-mahaffey/allow-yourself-some-happiness-so-that-i-can-be-a-part-of-it/)

[Montgomery Mahaffey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montgomery-mahaffey/)

> [I've cosponsored legislation to establish a lend-lease program to simplify bureaucratic barriers and allow a speedier transfer of U.S. military equipment to Ukraine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-waltz/i-ve-cosponsored-legislation-to-establish-a-lend-lease-program-to/)

[Michael Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-waltz/)

> [“Sometimes life doesn't allow us to be free to fly wherever we'd like.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elana-johnson/sometimes-life-doesn-t-allow-us-to-be-free-to-fly-wherever-we-d-like/)

[Elana Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elana-johnson/)

> [I am that which I am, and I am willing to allow all others to be that which they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/i-am-that-which-i-am-and-i-am-willing-to-allow-all-others-to-be-that/)

[Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/)

> [By letting go, you allow everything to find it's rightful place. Once free, everything finds its way home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-brown/by-letting-go-you-allow-everything-to-find-it-s-rightful-place-once/)

[Leon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-brown/)

> [As long as a man's heart beats, as long as a man's flesh quivers, I do not allow that a being gifted with thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/as-long-as-a-man-s-heart-beats-as-long-as-a-man-s-flesh-quivers-i-do/)

[Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/)

> [Allow yourself to graduate, every five years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-guisewite/allow-yourself-to-graduate-every-five-years/)

[Cathy Guisewite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-guisewite/)

> [“A man will only do what you allow him to do,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kennedi-dior/a-man-will-only-do-what-you-allow-him-to-do/)

Kennedi Dior

Browse all 1,065 Allow quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Ernest Sosa"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-that-it-is-revisable/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Allow"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-that-it-is-revisable/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/ernest-sosa-12656_allow_any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-t_624311.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/ernest-sosa-12656_allow_any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-t_624311.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf3/ernest-sosa-12656_allow_any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-t_624311.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.” — Ernest Sosa",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Ernest Sosa",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Any defense of common sense must...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-that-it-is-revisable/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-that-it-is-revisable/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
