Justification: foundations, coherence, and reliability
If beliefs need reasons, those reasons need reasons too. Theories of justification explain where the chain of support ends.
The regress problem
Ask why you believe something, then why you believe your reason, and so on. Either the chain goes on forever, loops back on itself, or stops somewhere. Each theory of justification picks one of these options and explains why it is acceptable.
Foundationalism and coherentism
Foundationalists say the chain ends in basic beliefs that need no further support, such as 'I seem to see red' or simple truths of reason. Coherentists reject basic beliefs; for them a belief is justified when it fits well into a whole web of beliefs that support one another, like the parts of a well-made puzzle.
Internalism versus externalism
Internalists hold that what justifies a belief must be accessible to the believer on reflection. Externalists, such as reliabilists, say a belief is justified if it comes from a process that reliably produces true beliefs, like normal vision in good light, even if the believer cannot explain why. A young child's perceptual beliefs are a test case: they seem justified, though the child cannot defend them.
Flashcard
Justification rests on basic, self-supporting beliefs
Check your understanding
Which view says a belief is justified because it fits within a mutually supporting system of beliefs?