The Structure of knowledge Flashcards
Propositional justification
A matter of having good reasons for holding a belief to be true . Being in a
position to justifiedly believe. Focus: proposition.
Doxastic justification
A matter of properly believing based on the good reasons one possesses.
Justifiedly believing. Focus: belief.
What are reasons for belief
In most cases these reasons are other beliefs that stand in
an appropriate relation to the belief in question
What makes something the right reasons for a belief?
To believe something for the right reasons is to have further beliefs
that support the belief in question
Thus, the right reasons are supporting beliefs
Put another way, the right reasons are the grounds for which you believe in something
this assumes internalism about justification
Evidentialism about epistemic justification
S is justified in believing p if and only if S possesses evidence for p
which supports believing p
If justified beliefs are grounded by supporting beliefs, then
what are the grounds for believing in the supporting beliefs?
This line of questioning can go on indefinitely, giving rise to the
regress problem
3 possible solutions to the regress problem
1) Unjustified basic belief: We end the regress arbitrarily, and the belief that terminated the chain will be an unjustified basic belief
2) Accepting infinity: The regression of supporting beliefs goes on infinitely—fairly early on in the infinite chain we would be unable to account for our supporting beliefs
3) Embracing circularity: We may circle back and use a previously
supported belief to close the chain into a loop
Problems for 1: “unjustified basic beliefs”
Houses with no foundations
Problems for 2: “accepting infinity”
Psychologically impossible to assess whether supporting beliefs
far down the chain of reasons count as evidenc
Problems for 3: ”embrace circularity”
Circular reasoning is by many considered an informal logical
fallacy
But more important for us: Where does the justification
originate in this circle
Agrippa’s trilemma
Three unattractive options. Our beliefs are justified by:
o Nothing at all, they are unsupported
o They are justified by an infinite chain of justifying beliefs
o They are justified by a circular chain of justifying beliefs
Three theories of justifcation
Foundationalism
Infinitism
Coherentism
Foundationalism
There are basic beliefs which do not rely on supporting beliefs for
their justification. The chain of justification has an end.
Infinitism
The chain is potentially infinite, and that’s okay!
Coherentism
Embrace the circle, and allow previous beliefs in the chain to count as
supporting beliefs (non-vicious circularity).
What do the theories have in common?
Foundationalism, coherentism, and infinitism are all
evidentialist theories of epistemic justification
They are all, in our case at least, internalist theories of
justification
Problems for coherentism
Circularity does not seem like an appropriate structure for justification
Where does the justification originate on a circular structure of justification?
There can be many different coherent systems of beliefs
Problems for infinitism
Counter-intuitive; embracing an infinite, non-repeating, chain of reasons seems to support a sceptical view of the regress problem, not a solution
Psychologically impossible; “one cannot traverse an infinite series
Same as with coherentism: where does the justification originate?
Foundationalism
The theory: There are some beliefs which are basic, and the rest of one’s beliefs inherit their epistemic status (i.e.,
justification) by virtue of being supported by these basic beliefs.
Two claims central claims:
o F1. There are justified basic beliefs
o F2.All justified non-basic beliefs are justified
in virtue of their relation to justified basic beliefs
Justified basic beliefs
Beliefs that are justified, but not by further supporting beliefs
“self-justifying”, or better “self-evident”
Justified non-basic beliefs
Beliefs that are deduced or derived from other justified beliefs
Three questions for foundationalism
Question 1: Which of our beliefs count as justified basic beliefs?
Question 2: How are basic beliefs justified?
Question 3: What sort of relation must a non-basic belief have to justified basic beliefs in order to be justified?
Decartes basic belief: foundation of Foundationalism
I think therefore I am
The basic belief: I exist (as a thinking entity)
This is a tiny foundation!
Appearance beliefs
Only about one’s own state of mind