Intuition is a big part of moral knowledge. We intuit, or feel deep down inside, that something isn’t right. It doesn’t feel good. For example, someone may not explicitly have told you that torturing a puppy is a bad thing to do. But if you have a heart and feelings, even if you are a little child, you will know that this is not a good thing to do. You intuitively feel for the puppy. You wouldn’t want that to happen to you.
We can also intuit that even though stealing is a bad thing, if our child is hungry and we are homeless and we see some food, the thought could cross our mind to steal it. We might even go ahead and grab that apple from the fruit stand for our child. We know it is immoral but we over-ride our intuition for the sake of survival. We know that the fruit stand owner worked hard to put his shop together and he may be facing hard times himself. Stealing from him does not feel good, even if our baby gets to eat something.
Problems arise in wartime, when people are commanded to kill and feel conflicted about it. Their intuition tells them one thing, that killing civilians and children is no way to live life—but they must, under severe consequences, go against their intuition.
Intuition is a valuable tool to navigate through the complexities of moral issues. Without it, we are left with a lifeless set of rules that most people will break anyway.
We can also intuit that even though stealing is a bad thing, if our child is hungry and we are homeless and we see some food, the thought could cross our mind to steal it. We might even go ahead and grab that apple from the fruit stand for our child. We know it is immoral but we over-ride our intuition for the sake of survival. We know that the fruit stand owner worked hard to put his shop together and he may be facing hard times himself. Stealing from him does not feel good, even if our baby gets to eat something.
Problems arise in wartime, when people are commanded to kill and feel conflicted about it. Their intuition tells them one thing, that killing civilians and children is no way to live life—but they must, under severe consequences, go against their intuition.
Intuition is a valuable tool to navigate through the complexities of moral issues. Without it, we are left with a lifeless set of rules that most people will break anyway.
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