Reliabilism, Stability, and the Value of Knowledge

According to reliabilism, knowledge is basically true belief acquired through a reliable process. Many epistemologists have argued recently that reliabilism fails to accommodate our pre-systematic judgment that knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief. The paper pinpoints where this so-called swamping argument goes wrong. It is then argued that true beliefs that are reliably acquired are more stable and therefore more valuable for the purposes of guiding practical action over time. Finally, it is suggested that the stability thesis can, to some extent, bridge the gulf between externalist and internalist approaches to epistemology. While knowledge may be best defined in externalist terms, the full realization of its value requires the satisfaction of an internalist condition of track-keeping stating that people maintain a record of how their beliefs were acquired.