foundationalism, in epistemology, the view that some beliefs can justifiably be held by inference from other beliefs, which themselves are justified directly—e.g., on the basis of rational intuition or sense perception. Beliefs about material objects or about the theoretical entities of science, for example, are not regarded as basic or foundational in this way but are held to require inferential support. Foundationalists have typically recognized self-evident truths and reports of sense-data as basic, in the sense that they do not need support from other beliefs. Such beliefs thus provide the foundations on which the edifice of knowledge can properly be built. See also coherentism.