Inquiring into ‘sense’: towards a necessary indefinition

In an open-minded discussion, free of commitments to one discipline or another, I try to tackle, explore and unfold the concept of ‘sense’, without reducing it to mere ‘linguistic enunciation’ or ‘semantic meaning’. I will argue that ‘sense’ comes into view only when posed against the background of confusion, disorientation or ambiguity. As well as describing its orienting function, its dialogic character and its relationship to "being", I will contend that ‘sense’ is both an act of opening, and of positioning with regard to the world and the real. If my argument is right, then ‘sense’ does not aim to limit an object (i.e., defining it); rather, it must try to reach beyond its horizons. ‘Sense’, then, reveals itself as a search for intelligibility in action - in other words, as critical thought.