If That Were True I Would Have Heard about it by Now

Abstract

This chapter examines beliefs formed on the basis of one's expectation that if things were not so, one would have heard about it by now. It is argued that a proper reliabilist assessment of these beliefs must attend to various cognitive dispositions of the members of the subject's community. On the model offered, such “coverage‐supported” beliefs are a species of inferentially‐acquired beliefs, where the inference is from a premise asserting the subject's expectation of relevant coverage. The epistemic goodness of the subject's expectation, in turn, is determined by reference to prevailing social practices and institutions.

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