Work

What the tortoise should do: A knowledge‐first virtue approach to the basing relation

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: What is it to base a belief on reasons? Existing attempts to give an account of the basing relation encounter a dilemma: either one appeals to some kind of neutral process that does not adequately reflect the way basing is a content‐sensitive first‐personal activity, or one appeals to linking or bridge principles that over‐intellectualize and threaten regress. We explain why this dilemma arises, and diagnose the commitments that are key obstacles to providing a satisfactory account. We explain why they should be rejected anyway, and then offer a new, knowledge‐first virtue epistemological theory of the basing relation that shows how we can substantially theorize about mental processes without these commitments. The resulting view plausibly captures the way in which basing is an inherently mental and content‐sensitive process.

Source: Noûs

DOI: 10.1111/nous.12460

Authors: Lisa Miracchi Titus, J. Adam Carter

Institutions: University of Denver, University of Glasgow

Language: English

Topic: Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Arts and Humanities Research Council

Awards: Expanding Autonomy: Scaffolded, Embedded and Distributed, Digital Knowledge: A New Framework for Digital Epistemic Virtues