a distinction between inferential justification and non-inferential justification. He postulates that considering something in some way and seeing it that way are two different things. According to him, we can not confide in our epistemic beliefs unless they are justified independently of something else that we also believe. Therefore, our basic beliefs must be in an autonomous class of justified beliefs. Books Groundless Belief (1977) Unnatural Doubts (1992) Problems of Knowledge (2001) See also American philosophy List of American philosophers References External links Williams' faculty page Philosophers of language Johns Hopkins University faculty 1947 births Living people Epistemologists 20th-century American philosophers 21st-century American philosophers