TITLE:
Sidgwick’s Intuitionism and Its Internal Tension
AUTHORS:
Tao Wang
KEYWORDS:
Intuitionism, Self-Evidence, Non-Dissensus, Sidgwick
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.2,
February
14,
2026
ABSTRACT: Intuitionism serves as a crucial epistemological method within Sidgwick’s philosophical system. Building upon the intuitionist tradition initiated by Butler, Sidgwick distinguished between types of intuition and established criteria for intuitive self-evidence, thereby laying the foundations for the study of intuitionism. Based on intuitionism, Sidgwick constructed a system of self-evident principles, achieving a transition from self-interest to utilitarianism and demonstrating the self-evidence of utilitarianism. However, Sidgwick’s system of intuitionism contains internal tensions arising from its pursuit of self-evidence and the ineffective concept of “non-dissensus”. This invalid “non-dissensus” is centrally embodied in its criterion of self-evidence and profoundly encapsulates the famous “the Dualism of the Practical Reason”, constituting a fundamental characteristic that must be addressed when studying Sidgwick’s intuitionism.