Definition of "intuitionism" [in•tu•i•tion•ism]

• Philosophy The theory that truth or certain truths are known by intuition rather than reason. (noun)
• Philosophy The theory that external objects of perception are immediately known to be real by intuition. (noun)
• Philosophy The theory that ethical principles are known to be valid through intuition. (noun)
• Philosophy The view that the subject matter of mathematics consists of the mental or symbolic constructions of mathematicians rather than independent and timeless abstractions, as is held in Platonism. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In Brouwer's philosophy, known as intuitionism, mathematics is a free creation of the human mind, and an object exists if and only if it can be (mentally) constructed."
• "The commentator also suggests that the classification is problematic; but the reasons given are considerably more obscure, and some of them seem based on not taking the Whewell-Mill example seriously, and on not paying attention to the meaning that it sets up for the label 'intuitionism' in particular, the comment doesn't seem to recognize what intuitionism meant in the time period from which I explicitly took the term."
• "For those who need more than I've given above to clarify what I mean by 'intuitionism' and 'utilitarianism', a good place to start is John Stuart Mill's "Whewell on Moral Philosophy"; it's partisan, but it's clear. posted by Brandon | 10:32 AM"