Epistemic Rationality Begins Unreflectively

Area of Science:

• Analytic Epistemology
• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Epistemic justification theories debate rational belief formation.
• Internalist and externalist views explore unreflective evidence responses.
• Rationality in non-human animals and children is linked to unreflective responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the tension between reflective and unreflective accounts of rational belief.
• Explore the roots of epistemic rationality in unreflective processes.
• Challenge the view that adult human cognition fundamentally differs from that of children and animals.

Main Methods:

• Engaging with recent developmental psychology research.
• Integrating insights from the study of epistemic defeaters.
• Analyzing theories of epistemic justification (internalism and externalism).

Main Results:

• Unreflective responsiveness to evidence is a key aspect of rational belief.
• The foundations of epistemic rationality are found in unreflective actions.
• Evidence suggests continuity, not a kind-difference, between adult and non-adult minds.

Conclusions:

• Epistemic rationality originates in unreflective processes.
• Reflective accounts may overstate the necessity of conscious evidence assessment.
• The cognitive gap between humans and other animals/children in rationality may be narrower than presumed.