Final answer:
Intuition is the ability to understand something immediately without the need for reasoning.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ability to understand or know something without the need for reasoning is best defined as intuition. This form of cognition feels immediate and self-evident, and to many, it appears so clear that to doubt its veracity seems almost impossible.
In contrast, deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning both involve logical processes to arrive at conclusions, with deductive reasoning starting from a general theory towards a specific conclusion, and inductive reasoning moving from specific observations to broader generalizations. On the other hand, empirical analysis is a method that relies on observing and experimenting to gather knowledge.