intuitionism

American  

[in-too-ish-uh-niz-uhm, -tyoo-] / ˌɪn tuˈɪʃ əˌnɪz əm, -tju- /

noun

1. Ethics. the doctrine that moral values and duties can be discerned directly.

2. Metaphysics.

   1. the doctrine that in perception external objects are given immediately, without the intervention of a representative idea.

   2. the doctrine that knowledge rests upon axiomatic truths discerned directly.

3. Logic, Mathematics. the doctrine, propounded by L. E. J. Brouwer, that a mathematical object is considered to exist only if a method for constructing it can be given.

---

intuitionism British  

/ ˌɪntjʊˈɪʃəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. 1. the doctrine that there are moral truths discoverable by intuition

   2. the doctrine that there is no single principle by which to resolve conflicts between intuited moral rules See also deontological

2. philosophy the theory that general terms are used of a variety of objects in accordance with perceived similarities Compare nominalism Platonism

3. logic the doctrine that logical axioms rest on prior intuitions concerning time, negation, and provability

4. 1. the theory that mathematics cannot intelligibly comprehend the properties of infinite sets, and that only what can be shown to be provable can be justifiably asserted

   2. the reconstruction of mathematics or logic in accordance with this view Compare formalism logicism finitism

5. the doctrine that knowledge, esp of the external world, is acquired by intuition

---

Other Word Forms

• intuitionist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of intuitionism

First recorded in 1840–50; intuition + -ism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intuitionism

L. E. J. Brouwer, for whom the theorem was named, founded a movement in mathematics called intuitionism.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 27, 2018

But as every special study tends to rely upon its own conceptions, pietism, involving as it does a relation to God, is replaced by rigorism and intuitionism.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Ralph Barton Perry

That moral intuitions are indispensable may be freely admitted even by one who demurs to the doctrine that intuitionism in some one of its forms may be accepted as a satisfactory theory of morals.

From A Handbook of Ethical Theory by George Stuart Fullerton

Dewey's criticism of intuitionism scarcely does justice to that method, whatever may be its inherent weakness.

From John Dewey's logical theory by Delton Thomas Howard

He acknowledges his debt to Kant, to the Romanticists, and in particular to Schelling, whose "intuitionism" was naturally congenial to him.

From Religion and Science From Galileo to Bergson by John Charlton Hardwick