Goldman's Reliablism Flashcards
What are recursive or inductive definitions
A definition that uses a base case, a recursive clause, and a closure clause in the following form:
Base Case: X fits the definition
Recursive Clause: If X fits the definition, then so does y
Closure Clause: Nothing else fits the definition
What is the Humperdink case?
Humperdink has been learning logic from Elmer Fraud who is pretending to be a logician. Elmer teacher Humperdink than any or-sentence with at least 40 disjuncts is necessarily true. Humperdink then sees one of those sentences and believes it “… or … or … or I exist or … or …” Humperdink’s belief is true but he is not justified.
What is reliabilism?
The idea that a belief is justified if it was produced by a reliable process - a process likely to yield truths.
What is a belief-independent process?
A process which yields justified beliefs if that process reliably yields truths.
What is a belief-dependent process?
A process which yields justified beliefs if it reliably yields truths when its inputs are themselves justified beliefs.
What is internalism?
The idea that the grounds of one’s beliefs must be within one’s mind.
What is access internalism?
A type of internalism. The idea that any fact relevant to justification must be consciously accessible to the believer.
What is mentalism?
A type of internalism. The idea that any fact relevant to justification must be within the believer’s mind (in some sense)
What is Goldman’s historical reliabilism?
The idea that a belief is justified if it is formed by a reliable process. The causal history of the belief is what matters.
