Does not take place this semester. Die Lehrveranstaltung wird im FS24 angeboten.
2 hrs
Catalogue data
Abstract
Rationality has been treated as a “universal” character of human beings. But such understandings, though dominant, also came under androcentric and Eurocentric critiques. They point out that exclusion of women and people of color is not aberrant bad scientific practices, but rather constituent of the principle modern science based on. This seminar offers plural perspectives on rationality.
Learning objective
Students will be introduced to theories of rationality from different philosophical traditions. Their ways of thinking shall be enriched and their sensibilities towards diversity improved. Students will participate in discussions, gain and sharpen their ability to understand complicated texts and identify arguments.
Content
Understood as a distinctive human attribute, rationality has been treated as a “universal” character of human beings. But the course of philosophy has witnessed how dominant understandings of rationality came under androcentric and Eurocentric critique. Such reflections argue that exclusion of women and people of color is constituent of the principle modern science is based on rather than aberrant bad scientific practices. What counts as reasonable? What is rational? These questions seem quotidian. We deal with them every day. Telling right from wrong, true from false is considered a basic ability of reasoning. For example, clarity and consistency are what we almost always strive for, while contradictions and ambiguities are what we try our best to avoid. Such tendency, which is to be found not only in everyday life but also in science of different kinds, seems to suggest that there is nothing valuable, nothing worth learning from ways of reasoning that do not share these standards – or even deny that they can count as rationality at all. Nevertheless, when taking into consideration the androcentric and Eurocentric critiques modernity has been receiving so far, it is questionable whether the standard of rationality can really (or justifiably) be so impoverished. How can we think about rationality otherwise? Can we learn anything valuable from, for example, contradictions and ambiguities? If so, how to think about these unconventional ways of reasoning? In this seminar we will read and discuss theories of rationality from diverse philosophical traditions.
Competencies
Method-specific Competencies
Analytical Competencies
assessed
Social Competencies
Communication
assessed
Cooperation and Teamwork
assessed
Sensitivity to Diversity
assessed
Personal Competencies
Creative Thinking
assessed
Critical Thinking
assessed
Performance assessment
Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again)
Performance assessment as a semester course