Single Idea 16534

[catalogued under 12. Knowledge Sources / E. Direct Knowledge / 2. Intuition]

Full Idea

I suspect that 'intuitions' and 'hunches' are pretty much the same thing, and pretty useless as sources of knowledge. …Things that seemed intuitively true to our forebears a century or two ago often by no means seem intuitively true to us now.

Gist of Idea

'Intuitions' are just unreliable 'hunches'; over centuries intuitions change enormously

Source

E.J. Lowe (What is the Source of Knowledge of Modal Truths? [2013], 2)

Book Reference

-: 'Mind' [-], p.5


A Reaction

I don't accept this. Intuitions change a lot over the centuries because the reliable knowledge which informs intuitions has also changed a lot. Arguments and evidence may nail individual truths, but coherence must rest on intuition.