Philosophers often discuss what beliefs are intuitive or counterintuitive to support their conclusions. I will argue that we should prefer theories and beliefs that are intuitive or sensitive to our intuitions rather than ones that aren’t.1 The fact that a theory or belief is intuitive isn’t conclusive proof and a theory or belief being counterintuitive isn’t a conclusive disproof, but it is one important element when evaluating the plausibility of a theory or belief. Intuitive beliefs range from things we know with high degrees of confidence—such as “1+1=2”—to beliefs that are merely plausible enough to take seriously as “possibly true.” When a theory isn’t intuitive, then we call it counterintuitive, absurd, or revisionistic. Revisionism exists in degrees from not at all to totally counterintuitive. I will argue that we should prefer that our theories are intuitive rather than revisionistic for at least the following three reasons: (more…)
