It can mean you've got something bumbling about in the subconcious, yeah. Big caveat was "as a philosophy student," especially one on in the states where the analytic tradition is pretty much the big dog; it's not one of those fields where you can get by with naive intuition*. Basically, "it makes sense" is usually met with a smack to the back of the head and a "
why does it make sense" (implied: You idiot
). At which point you dig the premises/assumptions up and the teacher may or may not mock you harshly. The 'you idiot' is sometimes no longer left implicit after that point, heh.
It (intuition jumps) is useful, but almost never the point where you stop, especially if you're using th'jump in any discourse outside internal (i.e. to yourself).
Might also be using the term to imply "given the premises" (especially when the people talking share background assumptions, such as a shared trade), but again, the power of the term lines in things outside itself. 'Sense' is being used as shorthand for 'in summation' in that case
Point of clarity, though, if only to keep myself on the ball. The phrase can be powerful and
effective (i.e. produces something functional), but it's almost never
valid until the 'makes sense' is unpacked. Validity has to do with the truth state of the premise, which can't be evaluated until sense is actually made
That's getting into classical logic, though~
Which I really need to refresh myself on, but validity is one of those things I picked up being really careful about. It's a tricky word.*However powerful and effective it may be. Considering how much fruitful material I've personally had produced subconsciously, I certainly don't deny its power, heh, just its sufficiency.