Friedrich Christoph Oetinger: Inquisitio in sensum communem et rationem

The ›Inquisitio‹ is an in-depth objection to the zeitgeist of the 18th century. Oetinger (1702-1782) countered the pathos of certainty and the methodical thinking of rationalism with the view that it was not the application of rules which creates a reliable insight into the nature of a thing, into the true conditions of a thing but rather the sensus communis, the intuitive ability of the soul.