Epistemic Justification

Richard Swinburne offers an original treatment of a question at the heart of epistemology: what makes a belief rational or justified in holding? He maps the rival accounts of philosophers on epistemic justification (internalist and externalist) arguing that they are really accounts of different concepts. He distinguishes between synchronic justification (justification at a time) and diachronic justification (synchronic justification resulting from adequate investigation)--both internalist and externalist. He also argues that most kinds of justification are worth having because they are indicative of truth; however it is only justification of internalist kinds that can guide a believer''s actions. Swinburne goes on to show the usefulness of the probability calculus in elucidating how empirical evidence makes beliefs probably true.