more from Ernest Sosa

Single Idea 8795

[catalogued under 13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 4. Foundationalism / f. Foundationalism critique]

Full Idea

If a mental state provides no guarantee against error, then it cannot serve as a foundation for knowledge.

Gist of Idea

Mental states cannot be foundational if they are not immune to error

Source

Ernest Sosa (The Raft and the Pyramid [1980], §4)

Book Reference

'Epistemology - An Anthology', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Kim,J. [Blackwell 2000], p.136


A Reaction

That assumes that knowledge entails certainty, which I am sure it should not. On a fallibilist account, a foundation could be incredibly secure, despite a barely imaginable scenario in which it turned out to be false.