Descriptive
Are there first evidences?
On the axis: Justification of belief · a basic belief
Foundationalism assumes beliefs that justify themselves, a perception or an evidence so immediate it needs no other. But do we ever perceive anything pure? Even "I see red" already draws on concepts, memory, learning: if there is no truly first given, what does the whole edifice rest on?
Philosophers' positions
Major
90
10
0
Justification
The project of the Meditations on First Philosophy is expressly foundationalist: to tear down every doubtful opinion and rebuild knowledge on a single unshakeable first principle, the cogito, whose certainty then supports the whole edifice. Knowledge rests on indubitable foundations, not on the mere coherence of a web of beliefs.
Meditations on First Philosophy, I-II
Anchors: Descartes · Sellars