Meanings
plural foundationalists
- human sciencesA supporter of foundationalism, the doctrine that beliefs derive justification from certain basic beliefs
So the foundationalist holds that both experiences and beliefs can justify beliefs, whereas the coherentist holds that only beliefs can justify beliefs.
2007 July 12, Harold Langsam, “Rationality, Justification, and the Internalism/Externalism Debate”, in Erkenntnis, volume 68, number 1, →DOI
comparative more foundationalist · superlative most foundationalist
- Of or relating to foundationalism.
Some philosophers have objected to certain foundationalist solutions to the regress problem on the ground that a person rarely, if ever, holds given-beliefs of the sort needed to justify observation beliefs.
2012, P.K. Moser, Empirical Justification
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰewbʰ-?
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰudʰmḗn
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰudʰnós
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰundʰós
- Proto-Italic*fundos
- Latinfundus
- Latinfundō
- Latinfundātiō
- Old Frenchfondacion
- Middle Frenchfondation
- Latinfundātiō
- Middle Englishfundacioun
- Englishfoundation
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishfoundational
- Englishfoundationalist
From foundational + -ist.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Portuguese fundacionista, fundacionalista
- fundacionistaa supporter of foundationalism
- fundacionalistaa supporter of foundationalism
Cite this entry
foundationalist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foundationalist
“foundationalist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foundationalist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foundationalist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foundationalist.
Source: foundationalist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.