Out in the Open: Public Evidence and the Limits of Experience

ABSTRACT Public evidence plays a central role in the justification of scientific theories—but does its importance extend beyond science, for instance, to political or religious belief? To address this question, we first need a clear account of public evidence. This article develops such an account, characterizing public evidence as non‐experiential evidence that meets the non‐factive epistemic conditions for common knowledge. I argue that public evidence not only underwrites the justification of scientific theories but also constrains how experience can justify belief more generally. The result is a novel account of public evidence with broad applicability across domains of inquiry.