ABSTRACT
"Adequate evidence"—like "acceptable," "unreasonable," "indifferent," "certain," "probable," and "improbable"— is a term people use in appraising the epistemic, or cognitive, worth of propositions, hypotheses, and beliefs. The statements in which people express such appraisal— for example, "People do not have adequate evidence for believing that acquired characteristics are inherited," "The astronomy of Ptolemy is unreasonable," and "In all probability, the accused is innocent"— are similar in significant respects to "Stealing is wicked," "People ought to forgive their enemies," and other statements expressing our ethical or moral appraisals. The definitions make use of one undefined epistemic locution. The evident, according to our definition, is more worthy of belief than is the unreasonable. If a proposition, statement, or hypothesis is acceptable but not evident, then its contradictory is also acceptable but not evident.
