Rationality: Formal and Theoretical Approaches (Level 7)

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 7
• Convenor: Florian Steinberger
• Assessment: two essays of 3700 words combined (100%)

As human beings we are constantly evaluating - both explicitly and implicitly - the way we reason, our beliefs, actions and emotions for their rationality and irrationality. And for good reason: rationality is supposed to aid us, both personally and societally, to gain knowledge and to act in the world so as to realise our goals. The principles of rationality are at the core of our theoretical and our practical projects. Moreover, they serve as the ultimate court of appeal for settling disputes across disciplines as well as in everyday life.

In this class we will attempt to get clearer about the very notion of rationality. What does it mean to be rational? What does rationality require of us? And do we have reason to comply with its requirements? Since the study of rationality has become an increasingly technical enterprise, we will take some time to familiarise ourselves with the rudiments of formal models of rationality (logic, probability theory, decision theory) in order to then examine them philosophically. The course’s focus is philosophical (e.g. there will be no problem sets); technicalities are kept to a minimum. That said this module presupposes some familiarity with basic symbolic logic and a willingness to grapple with some formal material.

Indicative module content

• The concept of rationality
• Rational belief and degrees of belief
• Logic and rationality
• Probability theory and probabilism
• Decision theory
• Why be rational?
• Pessimism about human rationality
• The source of principles of rationality

By the end of this module, you will have:

• a deep and systematic understanding of accounts of the concepts of rationality and of rational belief, and the relations between logic, probability and rationality
• a thorough understanding of the specialist principles and concepts deployed in formal approaches to rationality, their strengths and weaknesses and their distinctiveness relative to theoretical and empirical approaches
• developed critical responses to accounts of the motivations and sources of rationality, including how we might justify rational requirements and principles, suggesting new concepts or approaches
• flexibly and creatively applied knowledge to critically challenge arguments for and against the claim that human beings are fundamentally irrational, in light of empirical findings, while situating these arguments in relation to different theories of rationality.