Concept of Intuition in Western Philosophy and its Relation with Presential knowledge

The term "shohud" [intuition] in Islamic philosophy and mysticism is associated with presential knowledge, a sort of knowledge in which the existence of known object rather than its concept is present to the subject (knower) with especial properties and of especial importance that is basic for resolving some of the most important problems in epistemology.In Western philosophy, however, this term intuition is used in different meanings. Richard Rorty in his important essay under this title listed six primary meanings for the term and discussed four important of them in detail. The present article is to deal with various meanings of intuition in the west and their relations with presential knowledge with the conclusion that these different meanings apply more to the concept of "self-evidence'' than presential knowledge. It also concludes that in cases where this term is used in the sense of knowledge without the means of symbol or concept it does not mean presential knowledge in its narrow sense of it with the Islamic philosophers.