On Epistemic Entitlement (II): Welfare State Epistemology

Abstract

First paragraph: In a paper written a decade ago, I argued for the rational good-standing of a notion (perhaps realized in a number of distinct ways) of non-evidential warrant or epistemic entitlement , and for the possibility of using such a notion to fashion a unified response to two of the most traditional and disturbing forms of sceptical paradox. In this paper, I further explore the potential significance of epistemic entitlements so understood, suggest some refinements of the earlier discussion, reassess the prototype of entitlement derivable from Hans Reichenbach’s ideas about the justification of induction, and respond to a number of objections and difficulties for my proposals which have since surfaced in the literature.