Puzzles for Recursive Reliabilism

Shun Iizuka [PDF]

Abstract

The recursive aspect of process reliabilism has rarely been examined. The regress puzzle, which illustrates infinite regress arising from the combination of the recursive structure and the no-defeater condition incorporated into it, is a valuable exception. However, this puzzle can be dealt with in the framework of process reliabilism by reconsidering the relationship between the recursion and the no-defeater condition based on the distinction between prima facie and ultima facie justification. Thus, the regress puzzle is not a basis for abandoning process reliabilism. A genuinely intractable problem for recursive reliabilism lies in the gap between the reliability of the entire path to a belief and that of its parts. Confronted with this puzzle, reliabilists can orient themselves toward ‘reliable-as-a-whole reliabilism’ instead of ‘reliable-in-every-part reliabilism’, including recursive reliabilism, which is found to be not well-motivated.

Keywords

Process reliabilism, Defeaters, Infinite regress, Recursive definition

References

1. Beddor, B. (2015). Process Reliabilism’s Troubles with Defeat. Philosophical Quarterly, 65, 145–159.
2. Beddor, B. (2021). Reasons for Reliabilism. In J. Brown & M. Simion (Eds.), Reasons, Justification, and Defeat. Oxford University Press, 146–176.
3. Bergmann, M. (2006). Justification without Awareness: A Defense of Epistemic Externalism. Oxford University Press.
4. BonJour, L., & Sosa, E. (2003). Epistemic Justification: Internalism vs. Externalism, Foundations vs. Virtues. Wiley-Blackwell.
5. Fumerton, R. (1988). Foundationalism, Conceptual Regress, and Reliabilism. Analysis, 48, 178–184.
6. Goldman, A. I. (1979). What is Justified Belief? In G. S. Pappas (Ed.), Justification and Knowledge. D. Reidel, 1–23.
7. Goldman, A. I., & Olsson, E. J. (2009). Reliabilism and the Value of Knowledge. In A. Haddock, A. Millar, & D. Pritchard (Eds.), Epistemic Value. Oxford University Press, 19–41.
8. Graham, P. J., & Lyons, J. C. (2021). The Structure of Defeat: Pollock’s Evidentialism, Lackey’s Framework, and Prospects for Reliabilism. In J. Brown & M. Simion (Eds.), Reasons, Justification, and Defeaters. Oxford University Press, 39–68.
9. Grundmann, T. (2011). Defeasibility Theory. In S. Bernecker & D. Pritchard (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Epistemology. Routledge, 156–166.
10. Lackey, J. (2008). Learning from Words: Testimony as a Source of Knowledge. Oxford University Press.
11. Lasonen-Aarnio, M. (2010). Unreasonable Knowledge. Philosophical Perspectives, 24, 1–21.
12. Lyons, J. C. (2009). Perception and Basic Beliefs. Oxford University Press.
13. Makinson, D. C. (1965). The Paradox of the Preface. Analysis, 25, 205.
14. Pettit, P. (2001). Deliberative Democracy and the Discursive Dilemma. Philosophical Issues, 11, 268–299.
15. Pollock, J. L., & Cruz, J. (1999). Contemporary Theories of Knowledge Second Edition Rowman & Littlefield.
16. Sorensen, R. (2006). Epistemic Paradoxes (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemic-paradoxes/