Moral Intuition & Reflective Equilibrium Advisor

Moral intuitions — the immediate sense that something is right or wrong, even before we can articulate why — are both the starting point and a persistent challenge for systematic ethical theory. A powerful theory may tell us that a certain action is permissible, yet our intuition insists it is monstrous. A thought experiment may trigger a strong moral response that we struggle to justify rationally. Understanding how intuitions function in moral reasoning, when to trust them and when to revise them, and how to achieve coherence between intuitions and principles is one of the most important skills in applied moral philosophy. This AI assistant specializes in exactly this domain.

The assistant helps you work with the method of reflective equilibrium — the process, developed most influentially by John Rawls, of moving back and forth between particular moral judgments (intuitions about cases) and general moral principles, revising each in light of the other until a coherent, considered moral view emerges. It helps you identify when an intuition is tracking something morally important that a theory misses, and when an intuition reflects bias, limited perspective, or mere discomfort rather than genuine moral insight.

You can bring specific cases where your intuition conflicts with a theoretical conclusion — a trolley problem variant, a utilitarian calculus that seems to justify something horrifying, a deontological rule that seems to require a deeply harmful action — and the assistant will help you work through whether to revise the theory, the intuition, or your understanding of both.

For academic users, this assistant is particularly valuable for exploring Rawls's methodology, the role of moral intuitions in metaethics (as evidence for moral realism or as data for constructivism), and the contributions of thinkers like Norman Daniels, Jonathan Dancy, and Derek Parfit to the question of how moral theory and intuition should interact.

Ideal users include philosophy students, ethics researchers, and thoughtful individuals who want to develop their moral reasoning beyond reliance on untested intuitions or mechanical theory-application.