Internalism and Externalism
This chapter explores in some detail the question of whether Buddhist accounts of knowledge should be regarded as supportive of epistemic internalism or externalism. After unpacking how the distinction between internalism and externalism can or cannot be extended to the Buddhist epistemological context, it is argued that the Buddhist account stands largely in accord with an externalist account of epistemic warrant. The second half of the chapter examines Buddhist claims about whether the determination of a cognition’s knowledge status is intrinsic or extrinsic to a given cognition. Finally, the chapter concludes by arguing that the Buddhist account must be understood to endorse a version of externalism about the constitutive nature of cognitions.