JTB is Not Knowledge: Replacing Truth with Coherence and Reliability

The Justified True Belief (JTB) standard, which has dominated Western epistemology, is structurally flawed because its demand for Absolute Truth is metaphysically impossible for any conscious agent to verify. This paper argues that JTB is not knowledge and introduces the Gageian Epistemic Model (GEM) as a replacement framework. The GEM is a descriptive meta-epistemology that resolves the Agrippa Trilemma by formalizing the necessary structural procedure of conscious awareness into the PIE Syllogism (P1-P5). This approach replaces JTB with two attainable, non-arbitrary standards for warranted belief: Justified Coherent Belief (JCB) for intrinsic knowledge (necessary truths) and Justified Reliable Belief (JRB) for extrinsic knowledge (contingent empirical claims). The GEM thereby defines the only axiomatic path to warranted belief, aligning the definition of knowledge with the verifiable capabilities of human inquiry.