University of Galway

Course Module Information

Course Modules

Semester 1 | Credits: 10

There are bad arguments and good arguments; chains of reasoning can be cogent or confused. In other words there are rational standards. But are these standards universal, or do they vary from culture to culture? The role of the history of ideas with respect to this question is extremely controversial. Some claim the study of past systems of thought has shown that there are no universal rational standards; others that such study is not even possible unless we assume that there are. We will explore both views, and seek to situate them within wider philosophical and historiographical debates. Authors discussed will include some or all of the following: Donald Davidson, Thomas Kuhn, Bernard Williams, and David Bloor.

Learning Outcomes
  1. Gain a thorough understanding of the philosophical and historiographical issues at stake in the rationality and relativism debate
  2. Learn clearly to distinguish questions about the meaning, truth, sincerity, rationality and cause of past utterances
  3. Learn to distinguish practical methodological from basic philosophical questions
Assessments
  • Continuous Assessment (100%)
Teachers
Reading List
  1. "Rationality and relativism" by Hollis, M. and Lukes, S. (eds.)
  2. "The structure of scientific revolutions." by Kuhn, T.
The above information outlines module PI125: "Rationality and Relativism" and is valid from 2014 onwards.
Note: Module offerings and details may be subject to change.