 Just as some reject the conception of truth underlying classical foundationalist accounts of foundational justification, so others profess to be bewildered by some of the fundamental concepts employed in defining foundational justification. The acquaintance theorist tends to have relatively little to say by way of analyzing what direct acquaintance is. To be sure, one can try to give someone a feel for what one is talking about by a method of contrast--e.g., by contrasting one’s awareness of pain with the temporary distraction caused by an engrossing conversation. It is tempting to suppose that for a short time the pain was still present but the person with the pain was no longer aware of the fact that the pain exists. This awareness, the acquaintance theorist will argue, is obviously something over and above mere belief in the existence of the pain, as one can believe that one is in a mental state (say a subconscious mental state) without being aware of that state. (Some may find it odd to speak of having a pain without being aware of it; in that case, it may help to consider similar cases involving desire, hope, fear, or belief.) Like most theories foundationalism will, however, ultimately rest its intelligibility on an appeal to a basic or primitive concept, one that defies further analysis. Just as one needs to end epistemic regresses with foundational justification, the foundationalist will argue, so one needs to end conceptual regresses with concepts one grasps without further definition.