Direct apprehension and social construction: Revisiting the concept of intuition

Abstract

Reviews the role of intuition or an analogous concept within several divergent philosophical systems (including those in which claims concerning the certainty of what is intuited are not relevant) and argues that the salient feature common to various accounts of intuition is its non-inferential status. As such, it is argued to be highly relevant to contemporary theory. The paper offers several examples of points of compatibility with contemporary theory, including perception of social affordances, the apprehension linguistic rules and the construction of social norms. In claiming specific ways in which the concept of intuition is relevant to contemporary theoretical psychology, the paper moves toward developing a more comprehensive and historically informed framework for intuition than is currently offered. It also underscores the historical underpinnings of contemporary debates.