Two Dogmas of Coherentism

Abstract

This paper discusses two dogmas attributed to Davidson's coherentism. The first dogma says that experience is only a causal link between experience and beliefs. The second one says that only beliefs justify other beliefs. Against these two stataments it is argued that the conception of expeirence as a mere causal link between the world and our beliefs makes the world unknowable. Moreover, the article presents some additional reasons against that conception: it misses the phenomenological and perspectival character of perception, and its independence of belief. Finally, Davidsonian externalism is considered. It is shown here that Davidson's conception of experience makes it impossible to individuate the contents of beliefs. The article concludes rehabilitating the empiricist idea according to which perceptual experience can be used to justify beliefs.