Internalist vs. Externalist Conceptions of Epistemic Justification
Updated 2026-09-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
There are two families of internalism and externalism debates in epistemology, one about propositional knowledge and one about epistemic justification. Regarding justification, the dispute is whether it must be constituted by factors wholly internal to the thinker and belonging to her perspective; internalists say that it must, externalists say that it need not.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Assess responsibility: judge whether a person's belief is responsible by the reasons available to her. - Check reliability: set aside whether the person knows her process is reliable and look at the process itself. - Switch perspectives: move between self-justification and observer evaluation so standards are not mismatched.
Anchor fast decisions
Internalism appeals to epistemic responsibility: a belief is justified for the agent only when she can see the reasons from her own perspective. Externalism appeals to a connection with truth: what matters is whether the belief is produced by a reliable process and actually connected to the facts, which may be unknown to the thinker and need not be reflectively accessible.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- plato.stanford.eduhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justep-intext/verified
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