Intuitionism is the ethical idea that suggests morality derives from an innate sense of right and wrong. This theory is the philosophical derivation of Plato's Universal Mind Theory. The theory contends that every mature mind understands some simple, moral truths, and larger moral decisions are based on these simple truths. Moore defines these simple truths as universal truths. He explains that as an individual grows and matures, the individual gains more understanding about these moral truths.
Emotivism is the ethical idea that suggests morality is an emotional response to a situation. The theory contends morality is built in to people's emotional awareness, a function of making morally correct or incorrect decisions. For instance, when you give money to a charity, and feel good about your decision to give money, your good feelings are an emotional reward for making a moral decision.
Intuitionism relies on a concept of universal truth. The concept of universal truth suggests that some moral truths are absolute, consistent and always true. This idea is reminiscent of Immanuel Kant's metaphysical evaluation of universal morality. Intuitionism makes no attempt to define how some moral truths became absolute. Instead, it suggests that some moral ideas are necessarily absolute because they are shared moral concepts between mature moral people. For instance, most mature moral people would agree that stealing something, just because you want it, is morally wrong. Intuitionists would point to this as proof that stealing, in these conditions, is universally morally wrong.
Emotivism suggests universal ethics do not exist, preferring to uphold a sense of personal responsibility for ethical decisions. Emotivism contends that each person is designed to be ethical, with emotional guidelines guiding each decision. For an emotivist, each person can choose to be happy by making positive moral choices, based on each person's feelings about right and wrong. They also contend the personal, private nature of emotions necessitates a personal, private relation to morality. This means that each person is responsible for her own moral choices.