Foundationalism

Paper Summary:

Foundationalism maintains that basic statements are justified non inferentially. In recent years, though, there have been some criticisms directed at this view and alternatives developed to this view that other philosophers consider superior to such non inferential approaches. This paper provides a defense of foundationalism against Laurence BonJour's criticism in "A Critique of Foundationalism" and a look at what others have to say about these issues. A summary of the research and salient findings are provided in the conclusion.

Outline:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Definition of Foundationalism
BonJour's Argument Against Foundationalism
Challenges to BonJour's Argument
Conclusion

From the Paper:

" Laurence BonJour (1985) maintains that there is a serious problem with any foundationalist account of knowledge. As BonJour argues, a basic constraint on any standards of justification for empirical knowledge is that there is a good reason for thinking that those standards lead to truth. So if basic beliefs are to provide a foundation for knowledge for the moderate foundationalist, then whatever the criterion for being properly basic, it must provide a good reason for supposing that basic beliefs are true. Further, such a criterion must provide grounds for the person who holds a basic belief to suppose that it is true."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Allan, George. (2005). "Rockmore, Tom. on Foundationalism: A Strategy for Metaphysical Realism." The Review of Metaphysics 59(1): 196.
• BonJour, Lawrence. The Structure of Empirical Knowledge. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1985.
• Copleston, Frederick. A History of Philosophy, Vol. IV: From Descartes to Leibniz, (New York: Doubleday, 1960.
• Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy, ed. John Cottingham. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
• Martin, Michael. Atheism: A Philosophical Justification. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1990.

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