Reliabilism in epistemology holds that justified beliefs are those produced by reliable cognitive processes—processes that tend to produce true beliefs. This seems intuitive: perception is reliable, so perceptual beliefs are justified. Critics point to the 'generality problem': any belief is produced by many processes at different levels of description (visual system, color perception, blue-detecting-in-dim-light). Which level's reliability matters? Each gives different reliability ratings for the same belief.
The passage suggests that
perception is never considered a reliable process
all levels of cognitive process description yield identical reliability ratings
reliabilism faces no theoretical difficulties
determining which process to evaluate may be crucial for applying reliabilist criteria
Correct Answer: D
Choice D is the best answer. The level of process description changes reliability assessments.
- Context clues: Different levels give "different reliability ratings for the same belief."
- Meaning: The choice of process level determines the verdict, so it's crucial.
- Verify: The "generality problem" is precisely about which level to choose.
đź’ˇ Strategy: When different interpretations of a criterion yield different verdicts, infer the interpretation choice is crucial.
Choice A is incorrect because perception is given as an example where the theory "seems intuitive." Choice B is incorrect because "each gives different reliability ratings." Choice C is incorrect because the generality problem is a major theoretical difficulty.