Noun
foundationalism (uncountable)
(epistemology) The doctrine that beliefs derive justification from certain basic beliefs
According to foundationalism, a belief is epistemically justified only if it is justified by properly basic beliefs. Source: Internet
Current approaches Axiomatic assumptions Some thinkers seek to articulate axiomatic assumptions on which science may be based, a form of foundationalism. Source: Internet
Classical foundationalism maintains that basic beliefs must be infallible if they are to justify nonbasic beliefs, and that only deductive reasoning can be used to transfer justification from one belief to another. Source: Internet
Postmodernists and post-structuralists such as Richard Rorty and Jacques Derrida have attacked foundationalism on the grounds that the truth of a statement or discourse is only verifiable in accordance with other statements and discourses. Source: Internet
In terms of epistemology therefore, he can be said to have contributed such ideas as a rigorous conception of foundationalism and the possibility that reason is the only reliable method of attaining knowledge. Source: Internet
Lemos 2007, pp. 50-51 Laurence BonJour has argued that the classical formulation of foundationalism requires basic beliefs to be infallible, incorrigible, indubitable, and certain if they are to be adequately justified. Source: Internet