The "Intuitive Process" and its Relation to Work with Schizophrenics

The word "intuition" has been in use for some time now to fill in a gap whenever it is apparently not possible to explain in other ways how a certain body of knowledge has been obtained. At first, philosophers used this term to indicate a self-evident truth. Even as late as the time of Descartes, the word was used with this meaning. Descartes defined intuition as an indubitable, self-evident truth; i.e., a truth such that, in order to understand it, one would need only to know the meaning of the words used in expressing it. As frequently happens with words, the term "intuition" eventually took on a meaning opposite to the original one. Bergson (1) defined intuition as instinct at its best. "By intuition, " he said, "I mean instinct that has become disinterested, self-conscious, capable of reflecting upon its object and of enlarging it indefinitely." Lately, the term has been in use in psychiatry and other professions to indicate the unexplainable, unaccountable, instinctive, extrasensual, supernatural, or magical type of knowledge.

The word "intuition" stems from the Latin word intueor, which means: (1) to look at, upon or toward anything with attention or minutely; (2) to look upon or at (mentally), to observe, reflect upon, consider, contemplate; (3) to look at anybody with amazement; (4) to have respect for, pay attention to, keep before the eyes, weigh over, think upon. (Latin-English Dictionary, by Freund-Bullions, New York, 1870.)

Now let us examine how these words are used in colloquial speech. It is common practice in psychoanalytic work to pay