ABSTRACT
Justified belief does not entail evaluation. Nevertheless, evaluation may play an extensive role in bringing about justified belief and true belief. It may do so by promoting (doxastically) justified belief- by making subjects want to believe what is (propositionally) justified. And it may do so as well by facilitating(doxastically) justified belief, making it feasible and easy for subjects to exercise reliable processes. 1 It goes without saying that evaluation is an important theoretical activity, one of the chief theoretical activities of daily cognitive life. The present question is the instrumental value of evaluation. Just when - for which kinds of beliefs and processes and uses of evaluation - is evaluation desirable for bringing about justified and true belief? When is it better to evaluate and when not?
