Philosophers usually take intuitions seriously only in logic and mathematics, and wave away everyday hunches such as sensing that a stranger is dangerous. In an essay for Aeon, philosopher Marc A Moffett argues that these gut intuitions carry real rational weight. He compares them to perception: both present something as real without an explicit chain of reasoning. Thought experiments like the trolley problem, he says, are just controlled versions of the reasoning people do every day. He rejects the idea that intuitions work through a special feeling, pointing to people who report no such feeling at all.

For sceptics this is a useful challenge. Rejecting intuition wholesale is not critical thinking either; the real skill is knowing when a hunch deserves trust and when it needs testing.

Source: Marc A Moffett, Aeon (2026-10-20)

Summarised by the FTI newsdesk.