infinitism

Description
Infinitism is a potential solution to the problem of infinite regress. Contrasts with foundationalism and coherentism as part of Agrippa's Trilemma.

Infinitism posits that it is acceptable for a belief to be justified by an infinite chain of reasons and that there is no "end" or base belief that justifies the core belief. It states that the human ability to grasp the infinity of reasons is a limitation in and of itself, thus infinitism should be a perfectly acceptable justification for a true belief.

An issue with the concept of infinitism is that it may be overly complex and simultaneously dismissive while foundationalist approaches might look for something more fundamental and "universal".

Example
Belief:

P: “The bridge is safe to cross.”

Justification chain:

1. P is justified because R₁: “It was inspected yesterday.”
2. R₁ is justified because R₂: “The inspector is certified.”
3. R₂ is justified because R₃: “The certification process is reliable.”
4. R₃ is justified because R₄: “That reliability has been confirmed by oversight institutions.”
5. R₄ is justified because R₅: “Those institutions follow empirically validated standards.”
6. …

And so on without termination and without looping back.

👉 For the infinitist, justification is potentially infinite—you never reach a final stopping point.