ABSTRACT
JUSTIFICATION IS COHERENCE with a background system. In the preceding chapter, we considered a theory according to which justification consists of explanatory relations within a system of beliefs. The objectives of accepting what is true and avoiding accepting what is false are best served, according to that theory, by maximizing explanatory coherence. A principle can serve the purposes of truth, however, while lacking explanatory merit. The Pythagorean theorem suffices to obtain the truth about distances whatever its explanatory limitations. We shall correct the defect in the explanatory coherence theory by giving truth its due. To this end, we emphasize acceptance as the central notion. It is what we accept in the interests of obtaining truth and avoiding error, our acceptance system, that constitutes the relevant background system. Coherence with our acceptance system is determined by what it is reasonable to accept based on this system. A concern for truth and nothing but the truth drives the engine of justification.
