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Article

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2020)

Good and Bad Reasons to Reject Externalism

Submitted
February 2, 2020
Published
2020-08-11

Abstract

The debate between internalism and externalism in epistemology concerns one of the traditional conditions for knowledge: justification. Specifically, proponents of these theories seek to understand precisely what confers justification on a belief. Theories of justification are typically characterized as internalist if they hold that all justifiers are cognitively accessible to a person. Externalism represents the rejection of this thesis; defenders of this theory deny that the justifiers must be internal to a believerâs perspective. This paper presents an objection to the externalist account. Externalism, broadly construed, allows a person to be justified when they hold beliefs for the wrong reasons, and this indicates a significant problem with the theory. This paper argues that this kind of objection will not work for at least one significant variation of the externalist thesis: reliabilism. Finally, the idea that this theory must still account for a âgood reasonsâ evaluation of justification, an internalist consideration, is proposed and promoted.