Intuition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Intuition (disambiguation).
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without proof, evidence, or
conscious reasoning, or without understanding how the knowledge was acquired.[1]
[2]
Different writers give the word "intuition" a great variety of different meanings, ranging
from direct access to unconscious knowledge, unconscious cognition, inner sensing, inner
insight to unconscious pattern-recognition and the ability to understand something
instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning. [3][4]There are philosophers who
contend that the word "intuition" is often misunderstood or misused to
mean instinct, truth, belief, meaning, and other subjects, whereas others contend that
faculties such as instinct, belief and intuition are factually related.[5][6]
The word "intuition" comes from the Latin verb intueri translated as consider or from late
middle English word intuit, "to contemplate".[1]

Contents
[hide]

1Philosophy

o 1.1Eastern philosophy

1.1.1Hinduism

1.1.2Buddhism

1.1.3Islam

o 1.2Western philosophy

2Psychology

o 2.1Jung

o 2.2Modern psychology

3Colloquial usage

4See also

5References

6External links

Philosophy[edit]
Both Eastern and Western philosophers have studied the concept in great
detail. Philosophy of mind deals with the concept of intuition. There are philosophers who
contend that this concept is often confused with other concepts such as truth, belief,
and meaning in philosophical discussion.[6]
Eastern philosophy[edit]
In the East intuition is mostly intertwined with religion and spirituality, and various meanings
exist from different religious texts.[7]
Hinduism[edit]
In Hinduism various attempts have been made to interpret the Vedic and other esoteric
texts.
For Sri Aurobindo intuition comes under the realms of knowledge by identity, he describes
the psychological plane in human (often referred to as mana in sanskrit) has two arbitrary
nature, the first being imprinting of psychological experiences which is constructed through
sensory information (mind seeking to become aware of external world). The second nature
being the action when it seeks to be aware of itself, resulting in humans being aware of
their existence or aware of being angry & aware of other emotions, he terms this second
nature is knowledge by identity.[8] He finds that at present as the result of evolution the mind
has accustomed itself to depend upon certain physiological functioning and their reactions
as its normal means of entering into relation with outer material world, as a result when we
seek to know about external world the dominant habit is through arriving at truth about
things via as much as senses convey to us. However with knowledge by identity which we
currently only gives the awareness of human beings existence can be extended further to
outside of ourselves resulting in intuitive knowledge. [9]
He finds this intuitive knowledge was common to older humans (Vedic) and later was taken
over by reason which currently organises our perception, thoughts and actions resulting in
from Vedic to metaphysical philosophy and later to experimental science. he finds that this
process which seems to be a decent, is actual a circle of progress. As a lower faculty is
being pushed to take up as much from a higher way of working.[10] He finds when self-
awareness in mind is applied to own-self and the outer (other-Self), results in luminous self-
manifest identity, the reason also converts itself into the form of the self-luminous intuitional
knowledge.[11][12][13]
Osho believed consciousness of human beings to be in increasing order from basic
animal instincts to intelligence and intuition, and humans being constantly living in that
conscious state often moving between these states depending on their affinity and he also
suggests living in the state of intuition is one of the ultimate aims of humanity.[14]
Advaita vedanta (a school of thought) takes intuition to be an experience through which one
can come in contact with and experience Brahman.[15]
Buddhism[edit]
Buddhism finds intuition being a faculty in the mind of immediate knowledge and puts the
term intuition beyond mental process of conscious thinking, as the conscious intellect
cannot necessarily access subconscious information, or render such information into a
communicable form.[16] In Zen Buddhism various techniques have been developed to help
develop ones intuitive capability, such as k-an the resolving of which leads to states of
minor enlightenment (satori). In parts of Zen Buddhism intuition is deemed a mental state
between the Universal mind and one's individual, discriminating mind. [17][18]
Islam[edit]
In Islam there are various scholars with varied interpretation of intuition (often termed as
hads, hitting correctly on a mark), sometimes relating the ability of having intuitive
knowledge to prophet hood. Sihb al Din-al Suhrawadi in his book philosophy of
illumination (ishrq) finds intuition is a knowledge got through illumination and is mystical in
nature and also suggests mystical contemplation(mushhada) on this to bring about correct
judgements.[19] while Ibn Sn finds the ability of having intuition as a "prophetic capacity"
terms it as a knowledge obtained without intentionally acquiring it. He finds regular
knowledge is based on imitation while intuitive knowledge as based on intellectual
certitude.[20]
Western philosophy[edit]
In the West, intuition does not appear as a separate field of study, and early mention and
definition can be traced back to Plato. In his book Republic he tries to define intuition as a
fundamental capacity of human reason to comprehend the true nature of reality.[21] In his
discussion with Meno & Phaedo, he describes intuition as a pre-existing knowledge
residing in the "soul of eternity," and a phenomenon by which one becomes conscious of
pre-existing knowledge. He provides an example of mathematical truths, and posits that
they are not arrived at by reason. He argues that these truths are accessed using a
knowledge already present in a dormant form and accessible to our intuitive capacity. This
concept by Plato is also sometimes referred to as anamnesis. The study was later
continued by his followers.[22]
In his book Meditations on first philosophy, Descartes refers to an intuition as a pre-existing
knowledge gained through rational reasoning or discovering truth through contemplation.
This definition is commonly referred to as rational intuition. [23] Later philosophers, such
as Hume, have more ambiguous interpretations of intuition. Hume claims intuition is a
recognition of relationships (relation of time, place, and causation) while he states that "the
resemblance" (recognition of relations) "will strike the eye" (which would not require further
examination) but goes on to state, "or rather in mind" attributing intuition to power of
mind, contradicting the theory of empiricism.[24][25]
Immanuel Kant finds intuition is thought of as basic sensory information provided by
the cognitive faculty of sensibility (equivalent to what might loosely be called perception).
Kant held that our mind casts all of our external intuitions in the form of space, and all of
our internal intuitions (memory, thought) in the form of time.[26] Intuitionism is a position
advanced by Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer in philosophy of mathematics derived from
Kant's claim that all mathematical knowledge is knowledge of the pure forms of the intuition
that is, intuition that is not empirical. Intuitionistic logic was devised by Arend Heyting to
accommodate this position (and has been adopted by other forms of constructivism in
general). It is characterized by rejecting the law of excluded middle: as a consequence it
does not in general accept rules such as double negation elimination and the use
of reductio ad absurdum to prove the existence of something.[citation needed]
Intuitions are customarily appealed to independently of any particular theory of how
intuitions provide evidence for claims, and there are divergent accounts of what sort of
mental state intuitions are, ranging from mere spontaneous judgment to a special
presentation of a necessary truth.[27] However, in recent years a number of philosophers,
especially George Bealer have tried to defend appeals to intuition against Quinean doubts
about conceptual analysis.[28] A different challenge to appeals to intuition has recently come
from experimental philosophers, who argue that appeals to intuition must be informed by
the methods of social science.[citation needed]
The metaphilosophical assumption that philosophy depends on intuitions has recently been
challenged by some philosophers. Timothy Williamson has argued that intuition plays no
special role in philosophy practice, and that skepticism about intuition cannot be
meaningfully separated from a general skepticism about judgment. On this view, there are
no qualitative differences between the methods of philosophy and common sense, the
sciences or mathematics.[29]

Psychology[edit]
Jung[edit]
In Carl Jung's theory of the ego, described in 1916 in Psychological Types, intuition is an
"irrational function", opposed most directly by sensation, and opposed less strongly by the
"rational functions" of thinking and feeling. Jung defined intuition as "perception via the
unconscious": using sense-perception only as a starting point, to bring forth ideas, images,
possibilities, ways out of a blocked situation, by a process that is mostly unconscious. [30]
Jung said that a person in whom intuition is dominant, an "intuitive type", acts not on the
basis of rational judgment but on sheer intensity of perception. An extraverted intuitive type,
 "the natural champion of all minorities with a future", orients to new and promising but
unproven possibilities, often leaving to chase after a new possibility before old ventures
have borne fruit, oblivious to his or her own welfare in the constant pursuit of change. An
introverted intuitive type orients by images from the unconscious, ever exploring the
psychic world of the archetypes, seeking to perceive the meaning of events, but often
having no interest in playing a role in those events and not seeing any connection between
the contents of the psychic world and him- or herself. Jung thought that extraverted intuitive
types were likely entrepreneurs, speculators, cultural revolutionaries, often undone by a
desire to escape every situation before it becomes settled and constrainingeven
repeatedly leaving lovers for the sake of new romantic possibilities. His introverted intuitive
types were likely mystics, prophets, or cranks, struggling with a tension between protecting
their visions from influence by others and making their ideas comprehensible and
reasonably persuasive to othersa necessity for those visions to bear real fruit. [30]
Modern psychology[edit]
In more-recent psychology, intuition can encompass the ability to know valid solutions to
problems and decision making. For example, the recognition primed decision (RPD) model
explains how people can make relatively fast decisions without having to compare
options. Gary Klein found that under time pressure, high stakes, and changing parameters,
experts used their base of experience to identify similar situations and intuitively choose
feasible solutions. Thus, the RPD model is a blend of intuition and analysis. The intuition is
the pattern-matching process that quickly suggests feasible courses of action.
The analysis is the mental simulation, a conscious and deliberate review of the courses of
action.[31]
A lot of time instinct is misinterpreted as intuition and its reliability considered to be
dependent on past knowledge and occurrences in a specific area. For example, someone
who has had more experiences with children will tend to have a better instinct about what
they should do in certain situations with them. This is not to say that one with a great
amount of experience is always going to have an accurate intuition.[32]
Intuitive abilities were quantitatively tested at Yale University in the 1970s. While
studying nonverbal communication, researchers noted that some subjects were able to
read nonverbal facial cues before reinforcement occurred.[33] In employing a similar design,
they noted that highly intuitive subjects made decisions quickly but could not identify their
rationale. Their level of accuracy, however, did not differ from that of non intuitive subjects.
[34]

Colloquial usage[edit]
Intuition, as a gut feeling based on experience, has been found to be useful for business
leaders for making judgement about people, culture and strategy.[35] Law enforcement
officers often claim to observe suspects and immediately "know" that they possess a
weapon or illicit narcotic substances, which could also be action of instincts, however, this
can sometimes be considered to be subconscious prejudice.[36] Often unable to articulate
why they reacted or what prompted them at the time of the event, they sometimes
retrospectively can plot their actions based upon what had been clear and present danger
signals. Such examples liken intuition to "gut feelings" and when viable
illustrate preconscious activity.[37]

See also[edit]

Thinking portal

Artistic inspiration
 Brainstorming

Common sense

Cognition

Cryptesthesia

Dj vu

Eastern epistemology#Faith and Intuition

Extra-sensory perception

Focusing

Inner Relationship Focusing

Grok

Insight

Instinct

Intuition and decision-making

Intuition pump

Intuitionism

Intelligence analysis#Trained intuition

List of thought processes

Medical intuitive

Morphic resonance

Nous

Phenomenology (philosophy)

Precognition

Preconscious

Rapport

Religious experience
 Remote viewing

Serendipity

Social intuitionism

Subconscious

Synchronicity

Tacit knowledge

Truthiness

Unconscious mind

References[edit]
Notes

1. ^ Jump up to:a b "intuition". Retrieved 22 December 2014.

2. Jump up^ "intuition". Retrieved 22 December 2014.

3. Jump up^ Aurobindo, Sri. The synthesis of yoga. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo
ashram trust. pp. 479480. ISBN 978-0-9415-2465-0. Retrieved 26 December 2014.

4. Jump up^ Intuition and consciousness Rosenblatt AD, Thickstun JT. Psychoanal
Q. 1994 Oct;63(4):696-714.

5. Jump up^ Raymond DePaul, Michael; M. Ramsey, William. "One Prevalent Misuse
of Intuition". Rethinking Intuition: The Psychology of Intuition and Its Role in Philosophical
Inquiry. England: Rowman & littlefield publisher Inc. p. 84. Retrieved 22 December 2014.

6. ^ Jump up to:a b Raymond DePaul, Michael; M. Ramsey, William. "One Prevalent

Misuse of Intuition". Rethinking Intuition: The Psychology of Intuition and Its Role in
Philosophical Inquiry. England: Rowman & littlefield publisher Inc. p. 84. Retrieved 22
December 2014.

7. Jump up^ Leaman, Oliver (2000). Eastern Philosophy: Key Readings. London:
Routledge. pp. 540. ISBN 0-415-17357-4. Retrieved 23 December 2014.

8. Jump up^ Aurobindo (2005), p. 68

9. Jump up^ Aurobindo (2005), pp. 69-71

10. Jump up^ Aurobindo (2005), p. 75

11. Jump up^ Aurobindo (2005), p. 72

12. Jump up^ Aurobindo, Sri. The synthesis of yoga. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo
ashram trust. pp. 799800. ISBN 978-0-9415-2465-0. Retrieved 26 December 2014.

13. Jump up^ Aurobindo (2005), p. 7

14. Jump up^ osho, Bhagwan. Intuition: Knowing Beyond Logic. New York: osho
international foundation. pp. 1020. ISBN 0-312-27567-6. Retrieved 24 December 2014.

15. Jump up^ M. Indich, William. Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta. varanasi: Motilal
banarisdas. pp. 810. ISBN 81-208-1251-4. Retrieved 24 December 2014.

16. Jump up^ "Buddha, by Ajahn Sumedho". Buddhism now.

17. Jump up^ Humphreys, Christmas. A Popular Dictionary of Buddhism. London:

Routledge. ISBN 0-203-98616-4. Retrieved 23 December 2014.

18. Jump up^ Conners, Shawn. Zen Buddhism The Path to Enlightenment. Texas: El
paso trust. p. 81. ISBN 1-934255-97-1. Retrieved 23 December 2014.

19. Jump up^ Lawson, Todd. Reason and Inspiration in Islam: Theology, Philosophy
and Mysticism in Muslim Thought. London: I.B touris co ltd. pp. 210225. ISBN 1-85043-
470-0. Retrieved 26 December 2014.

20. Jump up^ Kalin, Ibrahim. Knowledge in Later Islamic Philosophy: Mulla Sadra on
Existence, Intellect, and Intuition. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 155160.
Retrieved 26 December 2014.

21. Jump up^ "Plato: Education and the Value of Justice". Retrieved 22
December 2014.

22. Jump up^ Klein, Jacob. A Commentary on Plato's Meno. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. pp. 103127. ISBN 0-226-43959-3. Retrieved 22 December 2014.

23. Jump up^ L. Mursell, James. "The Function of Intuition in Descartes' Philosophy of
Science". The Philosophical Review. 4. 28. USA: Duke University Press. pp. 391401.

24. Jump up^ Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature: Being an Attempt to
introduce the experimental Method of Reasoning into Moral Subjects. The Floating Press.
p. 105. ISBN 9781775410676. Retrieved 23 December 2014.

25. Jump up^ A. Johnson, Oliver. The Mind of David Hume: A Companion to Book I of
A Treatise of Human Nature. The Floating Press. p. 123. ISBN 0-252-02156-8. Retrieved 23
December 2014.

26. Jump up^ Kant, Immanuel. "Critique of Pure Reason". gutenberg.org. p. 35.

27. Jump up^ M. Lynch "Trusting Intuitions", in P. Greenough and M. Lynch (ed) Truth
and Realism, pp. 227-38.

28. Jump up^ G. Bealer "Intuition and The Autonomy of Philosophy" in M. Depaul and
W. Ramsey (eds) Rethinking Intuition: The Psychology of Intuition and Its Role In
Philosophical Inquiry 1998, pp. 201-239.

29. Jump up^ Williamson, Timothy (2008) "The Philosophy of Philosophy"

30. ^ Jump up to:a b C.G. Jung. Psychological Types. Bollingen Series XX, Volume 6,
Princeton University Press, 1971.

31. Jump up^ Klein, Gary. Intuition At Work. Random House, NY, NY. January, 2003.

32. Jump up^ Eugene Sadler-Smith. Inside Intuition. 2008.

 33. Jump up^ AJ Giannini, J Daood,MC Giannini, R Boniface, PG Rhodes. Intellect
versus intuition--dichotomy in the reception of nonverbal communication.Journal of General
Psychology. 99:19-24,1978.

34. Jump up^ AJ Giannini, ME Barringer, MC Giannini, RH Loiselle. Lack of

relationship between handedness and intuitive and intellectual (rationalistic) modes of
information processing. Journal of General Psychology. 111:31-37 1984.

35. Jump up^ "Australian Elite Leaders, Intuition and Effectiveness".

epubs.scu.edu.au.

36. Jump up^ http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/concept-

creep/477939/

37. Jump up^ Anthony J. Pinizzotto, PhD, Edward F. Davis, MA, and Charles E. Miller
III Emotional/rational decision making in law enforcement (Federal Bureau of
Investigation), Free Online Library, 2004.
Further reading

Chauran, Alexandra (2012). So You Want To Be a Psychic Intuitive. Llewellyn

Worldwide. ISBN 0-7387-3065-3.

Chopra, Deepak, and Judith Orloff. The Power of Intuition. Hay House, 2005.
(Audio) ISBN 978-1-4019-0622-1

Davis, Elizabeth. Women's Intuition. Celestial Arts, 1989. ISBN 978-0-89087-572-8

Fradet, Pierre-Alexandre, Derrida-Bergson. Sur l'immdiatet, Hermann, Paris, coll.

"Hermann Philosophie", 2014. ISBN 9782705688318

Hoeflich, Christine. What Everyone Believed: A Memoir of Intuition and Awakening.

Between Worlds Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9796589-0-7

Levin, Michal. Spiritual Intelligence: Awakening the Power of Your Spirituality and
Intuition. Hodder & Stoughton, 2000. ISBN 978-0-340-73394-3

Mayer, Elizabeth Lloyd. Extraordinary Knowing: Science, Skepticism, and the

Inexplicable Powers of the Human Mind. Bantam, 2008. ISBN 978-0-553-38223-5

McTaggart, Lynn. The Intention Experiment. Free Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7432-
7696-2

Saad, Ezechiel Hasard et Intuition, French, preface by zen master Jacques Brosse.
Ed. Dervy, Pars, 1991. ISBN 2-85076-438-8

Schulz, Mona Lisa, and Christriane Northrup. Awakening Intuition. Three Rivers
Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0-609-80424-7

Wilde, Stuart Intuition. Hay House, 1996. (Audio) ISBN 978-1-4019-0674-0

Wilde, Stuart. The Sixth Sense: Including the Secrets of the Etheric Subtle Body.
Hay House, 2000. ISBN 978-1-56170-501-6
 Aurobindo, Sri (2005), The Life Divine, Pondicherry: Lotus press, ISBN 0-941524-
61-2, retrieved 2014 Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations
related to: Intuition

Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman on Intuition

A scientific research group on intuition

Ask Philosophers: Question on Intuition and Rationality