What counts as a "good reason" to believe something?
Epistemic Justification
Internalism
Motivated by the fact that beliefs are internal mental states.
Maintains that when we know something, we are aware of the reason(s) it is true. This must make justification (sometimes also called "warrant") a relation to other mental states.
Distinguishes knowledge from other mental states (e.g., belief, desire, hope, wonder, doubt) based on things inside the mind (i.e., the character of the mental state itself and its relation to other mental states).
Foundationalism = basic beliefs
Self-evident or self-justifying truths which we know directly, not dependent on any other belief
Coherentism = holistic and interdependent
No beliefs are self-evident or self-justifying, nothing is known directly or independent of any other belief
Externalism
Motivated by the fact that truth is the external connection of a mental state to the world.
Maintains that when we know something, the only thing that matters is that it matches the way the world actually is (is in the right relation to the truth). This must make justification / warrant a matter of how a belief arose.
Distinguishes knowledge from other mental states based on the relations between the mental state(s) and the world (i.e., they must be formed by a reliable belief forming process - which need not be accessible to the knower)
Reliabilism= Justification is accomplished if, and only if, a belief originates in reliable cognitive processes or faculties [in an epistemic environment that does not undercut that reliability (e.g., optical illusions / mind-altering states)]
