Full Idea
Some intrinsic features of our thoughts are attributable to them directly, or foundationally, while others are attributable only based on counting or inference.
Gist of Idea
Some features of a thought are known directly, but others must be inferred
Source
Ernest Sosa (Beyond internal Foundations to external Virtues [2003], 7.5)
Book Reference
Bonjour,L/Sosa,E: 'Epistemic Justification' [Blackwells 2003], p.134
A Reaction
In practice the brain combines the two at a speed which makes the distinction impossible. I'll show you ten dot-patterns: you pick out the sixer. The foundationalist problem is that only those drained of meaning could be foundational.