INTUITION
124petition God to confer a blessing or to
do a good work on behalf of another
person or people. In this case, a person
intercedes on behalf of others.
INTUITION. From the Latin intueri,
“to look at.” Some philosophers claim to
know certain truths, especially in ethics,
by intuition rather than through discur-
sive reasoning. Some philosophers claim
that intuitive knowledge can be gained by
recognizing some truths as self-evident
(A is A) and not due to an inference from
some deeper, additional set of known
truths.
INVERTED SPECTRUM, PROBLEM
OF. See PRIVATE LANGUAGE
ARGUMENT.
IRENAEUS OF LYON (125–202). An
important opponent of Gnosticism,
Irenaeus insisted on the foundational
goodness of the material world and the
Johannine understanding of Jesus as
the logos incarnate. In twentieth-century
philosophy of religion, John Hick has
advanced what he calls an Irenaean
theodicy in contrast to Augustine. For
Augustine, human beings are born in an
unfallen, perfect state, but then fall from
paradise and seek redemption through
Christ. Irenaean theodicy does not see
the fall in such dramatic terms. Human
beings are born in a state of moral and
religious simplicity but not perfection,
and history itself is to be seen as a veil of
soul-making, whereby humans eventually
achieve union with God through Christ.IRONY. From the Greek eironeia, mean-
ing “dissembling.” Irony is broken into
three main types: verbal, dramatic, and
situational. Verbal irony occurs when an
individual conveys an idea by intention-
ally conveying the opposite. Sarcasm is an
example of this type of irony.
Dramatic irony refers to narrative
forms of media. When a consumer of
the media is aware of information that
characters in the narrative are unaware
of, dramatic irony occurs. In Shakespeare’s
Hamlet, the audience knows Polonius
is hiding in Gertrude’s bedchamber, but
Hamlet thinks it is Claudius.
When one’s actions lead to reaching
the diametric opposite of what one had
intended, situational irony occurs. In
Oedipus Rex, it is ironic that Oedipus’
attempt to not fulfill the prophecy that he
will kill his father and marry his mother
leads directly to Oedipus killing his father
and marrying his mother.
One of the earliest and most famous
examples of irony in philosophy comes
from Socrates. In fact, Socratic irony is
still employed today. In conversation with
others, Socrates would feign ignorance,
asking many questions. This tactic ironi-
cally led to the person who disagreed
with him reaching Socrates’ intended
conclusion seemingly of his own accord.