Basic belief
In foundationalism, basic beliefs are beliefs which do not depend on other beliefs for their validity, and which form the basis for other beliefs.
Foundationalism holds that all beliefs must be justified in order to be believed. Beliefs therefore fall into two categories:
- Beliefs which are properly basic, in that they do not depend for their justification on other beliefs, but on something outside the realm of belief ("non-doxastic justification");
- Beliefs which are derivative of one or more basic beliefs, and therefore depend on the basic beliefs for their validity;
Within this basic framework of foundationalism, there are a number of views regarding which types of beliefs qualify as properly basic; that is, what sorts of beliefs can be justifiably held without the justification of other beliefs.
- In classical foundationalism, beliefs are held to be properly basic if they are either self-evident axiom, or evident to the senses (empiricism).
- In modern foundationalism, beliefs are held to be properly basic if they were either self-evident axiom or incorrigible. One such axiom is Rene Descartes's axiom, Cogito ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am"). Incorrigible beliefs are those which can believe without possibly being wrong. Notably, faith in the senses is not seen as properly basic, because, Descartes argued, all our sensory experience could be an illusion;
- In reformed epistemology, beliefs are held to be properly basic if we are naturally inclined to believe them. Examples include faith in our senses, faith in our memory, and belief in God.