ABSTRACT
Most psychologists have some objection to intuition as a scientific concept, although they frequently enough make use of the word in practice. The reason for this is partly the very vague and mystical significance attached to the term in philosophy, the consequence being, that psychologists overlook important manifestations, well worth their consideration. Intuition is regarded by some philosophers as the source of a high spiritual knowledge, achieved by contemplation or by vision. (Intueri means “to see into”.) A special characteristic of this knowledge is the strong conviction of its truth, apart from any rational proof. Bergson has gone even farther in his estimation of the value of this knowledge, defending the point of view that in it the true nature of reality is immediately understood. In psychology we are required to consider the functions in all their various forms, both deficient and highly differentiated; And the simple forms often give a better idea of the characteristics of a function than its more complicated manifestations. We will, accordingly, try to get a better view of the simple forms of intuition.
