Ernest Sosa: Externalism
Ernest Sosa likes externalism. He thinks that it is intuitively correct.
But he must and does agree that it must be clarified in order to avoid certain
problems. So, his mission in this paper is to first define what he calls
"Generic Reliabilism," then to show how it is susceptible to certain objections,
then to present a modified version of it, and to show that this new version is,
in general, better than its predecessor. Let us look at his argument.
First, we get the usual definition of generic reliabilism: S is
justified in his belief that p at t if the belief is produced by some faculty
that usually produces true beliefs. Then, we get a couple of Alvin Goldman's
notions of ...
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has strong
meta-justification iff the subject neither believes that nor can determine if
the belief is ill-formed (hence the "meta-" prefix), and the subject is aware of
the process by which he got the belief and that the process is reliable.
OK, seems reasonable enough. But, Sosa points out, there are a couple of
scenarios (actually, three, but Sosa concentrates mainly on the two listed
below) in which these conceptions of justification just do not work. The "new
evil demon" problem takes a couple of forms in the article, but what it amounts
to is that if a person S attains beliefs through something other than his usual
faculties (e.g. senses, reasoning, etc.) like evil demons or random neurological
stimulators, or whatever, then that person's beliefs are not attained through a
reliable process (we are assuming that demons are, as usual, not benevolent
bearers of truth). But, we do not want to say, or at least Sosa doesn't, that
the deceived believer is completely ...
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Ernest Sosa: Externalism. (2008, October 23). Retrieved June 22, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ernest-Sosa-Externalism/91869
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"Ernest Sosa: Externalism." Essayworld.com. October 23, 2008. Accessed June 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ernest-Sosa-Externalism/91869.
"Ernest Sosa: Externalism." Essayworld.com. October 23, 2008. Accessed June 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ernest-Sosa-Externalism/91869.
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