“A lot of beliefs that are fundamental to who we are … are influenced by things that appear to be arbitrary and irrelevant to the truth of the matter.”
Miriam Schoenfield is a leading epistemologist and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. Her groundbreaking work probes how our foundational beliefs—about politics, identity, and fact—often arise from circumstances beyond our conscious control.
In her award-winning essay “Meditations on Beliefs Formed Arbitrarily”, and her influential article “Deferring to Doubt”, Schoenfield argues that recognition of epistemic arbitrariness calls for a calibrated skepticism—a disciplined openness to questioning even deeply held convictions. Her research spans higher-order evidence, permissivism, and belief rationality, challenging traditional epistemic norms with formal rigor and philosophical poise.
“Her accuracy-first approach to epistemology is reshaping debates on rational belief formation.” — Philosophy & Phenomenological Research
