The Role of Intuitions in Philosophical Methodology

This book focuses on the role of intuition in querying Socratic problems, the very nature of intuition itself, and whether it can be legitimately used to support or reject philosophical theses. The reader is introduced to questions connected to the use of intuition in philosophy through an analysis of two methods where the appeal to intuition is explicit: thought experiments and reflective equilibrium. In addition, the debate on the legitimacy of such an appeal is presented as connected to the discussion on the nature of the aims and results of philosophical inquiries. Finally, the main tenets and results of experimental philosophers are discussed, highlighting the methodological limits of such studies. Readers interested in the nature of intuition in philosophy will find this an invaluable and revealing resource.


Serena Maria Nicoli gained her PhD at the University of Torino, Italy. She is a member of SIFA (Società Italiana di Filosofia Analitica) and FATo (Filosofia Analitica Torino). Her research interests concern metaphilosophy and the philosophy of language, and her previous work includes An Armchair for Many: The Role of Intuitions in Philosophical Methodology (2014).