Single Idea 4259

[catalogued under 13. Knowledge Criteria / C. External Justification / 3. Reliabilism / b. Anti-reliabilism]

Full Idea

External or objective reliability is not enough to offset subjective irrationality (such as unexplained clairvoyance).

Gist of Idea

External reliability is not enough, if the internal state of the believer is known to be irrational

Source

Laurence Bonjour (Externalist Theories of Empirical Knowledge [1980], §IV)

Book Reference

'Epistemology: Internalism and Externalism', ed/tr. Kornblith,Hilary [Blackwell 2001], p.20


A Reaction

A good argument. Where do animals fit into this? If your clairvoyance kept working, in the end you might concede that you 'knew', even though you were baffled about how you managed it.