Philosophy of Religion Research
A Critique of Coherentism
Document Type : Original Research
Author
Assistant Professor of Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Richard Fumerton is professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa. In this essay he argues that fundamental difficulties face any attempt to define justified belief in terms of coherence among beliefs. To be plausible, a coherence theory must embrace internalism, but a coherentist cannot give a reasonable account of our access to our own beliefs. Moreover, even rather strong coherence seems at once neither sufficient nor necessary for the justification of our beliefs.
Keywords
Bonjour, Laurence (1985), The Structure of Empirical Knowledge, Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press.
Foley, Richard (1979), "Justified Inconsistent Beliefs", American Philosophical Quarterly 16.
Fumerton, Richard (1980), "Induction and Reasoning to the Best Explanation", Philosophy of Science 47.
Lehrer, Keith (1974), Knowledge, Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Pollock, John (1984), "A Solution to the Problem of Induction", Nous.
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