intuitionism

UK: /ˌɪntjʊˈɪʃəˌnɪzəm/

US: (in′to̅o̅ ish′ə niz′əm, -tyo̅o̅-)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

in•tu•i•tion•ism  (in′to̅o̅ ish′ə niz′əm, -tyo̅o̅-), n. 

1. Philosophy [Ethics.] the doctrine that moral values and duties can be discerned directly.
2. Philosophy [Metaphys.]
   • the doctrine that in perception external objects are given immediately, without the intervention of a representative idea.
   • the doctrine that knowledge rests upon axiomatic truths discerned directly.
3. Philosophy [Logic, Math.] the doctrine, propounded by L. E. J. Brouwer, that a mathematical object is considered to exist only if a method for constructing it can be given.

• intuition + -ism 1840–50

in′tu•i′tion•ist, n., adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

intuitionism / ˌɪntjʊˈɪʃəˌnɪzəm/, intuitionalism noun

1. (in ethics) the doctrine that there are moral truths discoverable by intuition
2. the theory that general terms are used of a variety of objects in accordance with perceived similarities
   Compare nominalism, Platonism
3. the reconstruction of mathematics or logic in accordance with this view
   Compare formalism
4. the doctrine that knowledge, esp of the external world, is acquired by intuition

ˌintuˈitionist, ˌintuˈitionalist noun