161-439 Rationality

Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours in philosophy.

Human agents are often thought to be differentiated from animal agents in virtue of possessing the capacity for rationality. This class examines recent work on the nature of rationality. In some years the focus will be on issues in theoretical rationality, in other years on issues in practical rationality. Topics to be covered will be drawn from but not limited to: (1) Emotion and reason: Are emotions assessable for rationality? What contribution do they make to our rationality? (2) Action explanation: What is a rationalizing explanation? (3) Epistemic and practical norms: What is the significance of empirical work for philosophical accounts of rationality? Do well-entrenched norms of rationality survive scrutiny? (4) Gender and rationality: Does the concept of rationality display gender-bias?

• develop skills in assessing the strength of arguments, identifying theoretical assumptions, and assessing conflicting arguments;

• improve the ability to develop and defend one's own position with respect to complex theoretical issues;

• have learnt skills to present complex ideas clearly.

A 5000-word essay 100% (due at the end of semester).

A booklet of readings will be made available by the School.