Abstract

This chapter addresses the question of whether perceptual beliefs can have a foundational status in epistemology. It argues that, although Audi's defense of the foundational status of perceptual beliefs does not succeed, a similar defense might succeed. It first considers a defense based on considerations of intuitive plausibility. The chapter next considers Audi's more extended defense based on a form of “epistemic realism”. According to this chapter, both defenses fail to provide any explanation of why certain experiences are justificatorily relevant to the existence of certain material objects. BonJour then sketches a “best explanation” account of this justificatory relevance, and attempts to show how, despite serious difficulties, such an account can deliver foundational justification.