Full Idea
If we have a Deweyan conception of knowledge, as what we are justified in believing, we will see "justification" as a social phenomenon.
Gist of Idea
If knowledge is merely justified belief, justification is social
Source
Richard Rorty (Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature [1980], Intro)
Book Reference
Rorty,Richard: 'Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature' [Blackwell 1980], p.9
A Reaction
I find this observation highly illuminating (though I probably need to study Dewey to understand it). There just is no absolute about whether someone is justified. How justified do you want to be?