The Role of Intuition in the Middle Age

Abstract

The article is devoted to follow to the essential characteristics of intuition think­ing. Intuition thinking is the way of understanding and extract of meanings. In this issue are analyzed such notions as sense, understanding and symbol. In this issue a symbol is a key figure in the way of thinking of the Middle age. Ancient Greek’s way of thinking and Middle age’s way of thinking are com­pered. The border of epochs is a main location of the turn from sensation to feel­ing and from revealed to hidden. In this article the evolution of notion of intu­ition, its semantic metamorphosis and its changing cognitive status are shown. According Socrates intuition has a form of daimonion, impersonal force helping him become a person and make decisions according to ethical standards. The fig­ure of Augustine impersonates the metanoia on two levels, subjective and level of epoch. The notion of “Self” ceases to be an entity autonomous from the nature of God, because only in the process of cognition, merge with God a person emerges. This is the fundamental difference in the way of being acient Greek and medieval cultures. Therefore, two epistemological paradigms, determining the cognitive status of intuition, are faced. On the base of mystics’ experience in the Middle age and Neoplatonism intuition is defined. For medieval mystics, con­templation, the direct vision of the truth in God, played an important role. From this phenomenon then comes the Cartesian clarity and distinctness of truth. Well known the intuition is the highest cognitive ability for rationalists