Full Idea
The justificational status of a belief is a function of the reliability of the processes that cause it, where (provisionally) reliability consists in the tendency of a process to produce beliefs that are true rather than false.
Gist of Idea
Justification depends on the reliability of its cause, where reliable processes tend to produce truth
Source
Alvin I. Goldman (What is Justified Belief? [1976], II)
Book Reference
'Epistemology - An Anthology', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Kim,J. [Blackwell 2000], p.345
A Reaction
Goldman's original first statement of reliabilism, now the favourite version of externalism. The obvious immediate problem is when a normally very reliable process goes wrong. Wise people still get it wrong, or right for the wrong reasons.