Justification (also called epistemic justification) is a property of

belief A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...

s that fulfill certain norms about what a person should believe.

Epistemologists Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledge ...

often identify justification as a component of knowledge distinguishing it from mere true opinion. They study the reasons why someone holds a belief. Epistemologists are concerned with various features of belief, which include the ideas of warrant (a proper justification for holding a belief),

knowledge Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...

rationality Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reason. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do, or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ab ...

, and

probability Probability is a branch of mathematics and statistics concerning events and numerical descriptions of how likely they are to occur. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1; the larger the probability, the more likely an e ...

, among others. Debates surrounding epistemic justification often involve the ''structure'' of justification, including whether there are foundational justified beliefs or whether mere

coherence Coherence is, in general, a state or situation in which all the parts or ideas fit together well so that they form a united whole. More specifically, coherence, coherency, or coherent may refer to the following: Physics * Coherence (physics ...

is sufficient for a system of beliefs to qualify as justified. Another major subject of debate is the sources of justification, which might include perceptual experience (the evidence of the senses),

reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

, and authoritative

testimony Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. Law In the law, testimon ...

, among others.

Justification and knowledge

"Justification" involves the reasons why someone holds a

that one ''should'' hold based on one's current evidence. Justification is a property of beliefs insofar as they are held blamelessly. In other words, a justified belief is a belief that a person is entitled to hold. Many philosophers from Plato onward have treated "

justified true belief Definitions of knowledge aim to identify the essential features of knowledge. Closely related terms are conception of knowledge, theory of knowledge, and analysis of knowledge. Some general features of knowledge are widely accepted among philosoph ...

" (JTB) as constituting knowledge. It is particularly associated with a theory discussed in his dialogues ''

Meno ''Meno'' (; , ''Ménōn'') is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato around 385 BC., but set at an earlier date around 402 BC. Meno begins the dialogue by asking Socrates whether virtue (in , '' aretē'') can be taught, acquired by practice, o ...

'' and '' Theaetetus''. While in fact Plato seems to disavow justified true belief as constituting knowledge at the end of ''Theaetetus'', the claim that Plato unquestioningly accepted this view of knowledge stuck until the proposal of the

Gettier problem The Gettier problem, in the field of epistemology, is a landmark philosophical problem concerning the understanding of descriptive knowledge. Attributed to American philosopher Edmund Gettier, Gettier-type counterexamples (called "Gettier-cases ...

. The subject of justification has played a major role in the value of knowledge as "justified true belief". Some contemporary epistemologists, such as Jonathan Kvanvig, assert that justification isn't necessary in getting to the truth and avoiding errors. Kvanvig attempts to show that knowledge is no more valuable than true belief, and in the process dismissed the necessity of justification due to justification not being connected to the truth.

Conceptions of justification

William P. Alston identifies two conceptions of justification. One conception is "deontological" justification, which holds that justification evaluates the obligation and responsibility of a person having only true beliefs. This conception implies, for instance, that a person who has made his best effort but is incapable of concluding the correct belief from his evidence is still justified. The deontological conception of justification corresponds to epistemic internalism. Another conception is "truth-conducive" justification, which holds that justification is based on having sufficient evidence or reasons that entails that the belief is at least likely to be true. The truth-conductive conception of justification corresponds to epistemic externalism.

Theories of justification

There are several different views as to what entails justification, mostly focusing on the question "How beliefs are justified?". Different theories of justification require different conditions before a belief can be considered justified. Theories of justification generally include other aspects of epistemology, such as defining knowledge. Notable theories of justification include: *

Foundationalism Foundationalism concerns philosophical theories of knowledge resting upon non-inferential justified belief, or some secure foundation of certainty such as a conclusion inferred from a basis of sound premises.Simon Blackburn, ''The Oxford Dict ...

Basic beliefs justify other, non-basic beliefs. *

Epistemic coherentism Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledg ...

Beliefs are justified if they cohere with other beliefs a person holds, each belief is justified if it coheres with the overall system of beliefs. *

Infinitism Infinitism is the view that knowledge may be justified by an infinite chain of reasons. It belongs to epistemology, the branch of philosophy that considers the possibility, nature, and means of knowledge. Epistemological infinitism Since Get ...

Beliefs are justified by infinite chains of reasons. *

Foundherentism In epistemology, foundherentism is a theory of justification that combines elements from the two rival theories addressing infinite regress, foundationalism's being prone to arbitrariness, and coherentism's being prone to circularity (problems rai ...

Both fallible foundations and coherence are components of justification—proposed by

Susan Haack Susan Haack (; born 1945) is a distinguished professor in the humanities, Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts and Sciences, professor of philosophy, and professor of law at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Haack has written on logic ...

. *

Internalism and externalism Internalism and externalism are two opposite ways of integrating and explaining various subjects in several areas of philosophy. These include human motivation, knowledge, justification, meaning, and truth. The distinction arises in many areas of d ...

The believer must be able to justify a belief through internal knowledge (internalism), or outside sources of knowledge (externalism). *

Reformed epistemology In the philosophy of religion, Reformed epistemology is a school of philosophical thought concerning the nature of knowledge (epistemology) as it applies to religious beliefs. The central proposition of Reformed epistemology is that beliefs can ...

Beliefs are warranted by proper cognitive function—proposed by

Alvin Plantinga Alvin Carl Plantinga (born November 15, 1932) is an American analytic philosophy, analytic philosopher who works primarily in the fields of philosophy of religion, epistemology (particularly on issues involving theory of justification, epistemic ...

. *

Evidentialism Evidentialism is a thesis in epistemology which states that one is justified to believe something if and only if that person has evidence which supports said belief. Evidentialism is, therefore, a thesis about which beliefs are justified and whic ...

Beliefs depend solely on the evidence for them. *

Reliabilism Reliabilism, a category of theories in the philosophical discipline of epistemology, has been advanced as a theory both of justification and of knowledge. Process reliabilism has been used as an argument against philosophical skepticism, such as ...

A belief is justified if it is the result of a reliable process. *

Infallibilism Infallibilism is the epistemological view that propositional knowledge is incompatible with the possibility of being wrong. Definition In philosophy, infallibilism (sometimes called "epistemic infallibilism") is the view that knowing the truth o ...

Knowledge is incompatible with the possibility of being wrong. *

Fallibilism Originally, fallibilism (from Medieval Latin: ''fallibilis'', "liable to error") is the philosophical principle that propositions can be accepted even though they cannot be conclusively proven or justified,Haack, Susan (1979)"Fallibilism and Nece ...

Claims can be accepted even though they cannot be conclusively proven or justified. *

Non-justificationism Critical rationalism is an epistemological philosophy advanced by Karl Popper on the basis that, if a statement cannot be logically deduced (from what is known), it might nevertheless be possible to logically falsify it. Following Hume, Popper ...

Knowledge is produced by attacking claims and refuting them instead of justifying them. *

Skepticism Skepticism ( US) or scepticism ( UK) is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

Knowledge is impossible or undecidable.

Criticism of theories of justification

Robert Fogelin Robert John Fogelin (June 24, 1932– October 24, 2016) was an American philosopher, and advocate and leading scholar of modern Pyrrhonism. He was a professor of philosophy and Sherman Fairchild Professor in the humanities (emeritus) at Dartmout ...

claims to detect a suspicious resemblance between the theories of justification and

Agrippa Agrippa may refer to: People Antiquity * Agrippa (mythology), semi-mythological king of Alba Longa * Agrippa (astronomer), Greek astronomer from the late 1st century * Agrippa the Skeptic, Skeptic philosopher at the end of the 1st century * Ag ...

's five modes leading to the suspension of belief. He concludes that the modern proponents have made no significant progress in responding to the ancient modes of

Pyrrhonian skepticism Pyrrhonism is an Ancient Greek school of philosophical skepticism which rejects dogma and advocates the suspension of judgement over the truth of all beliefs. It was founded by Aenesidemus in the first century BCE, and said to have been inspired ...

. William P. Alston criticizes the very idea of a theory of justification. He claims: "There isn't any unique, epistemically crucial property of beliefs picked out by 'justified'. Epistemologists who suppose the contrary have been chasing a will-o'-the-wisp. What has really been happening is this. Different epistemologists have been emphasizing, concentrating on, "pushing" different epistemic desiderata, different features of belief that are positively valuable from the standpoint of the aims of cognition."

References

External links

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Foundationalist Theories of Epistemic Justification

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Epistemology, 2. What is Justification?

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Internalist vs. Externalist Conceptions of Epistemic Justification

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Coherentist Theories of Epistemic Justification

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Epistemic Justification

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Epistemic Entitlement

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Internalism and Externalism in Epistemology

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Epistemic Consequentialism

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Coherentism in Epistemology

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Contextualism in Epistemology

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Knowledge-First Theories of Justification
{{Authority control Metatheory Concepts in epistemology