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24.03 Relativism, Reason, & Reality, Fall 2002

Bust of Socrates.
Socrates. (Image courtesy of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.)

Highlights of this Course

This course includes four paper assignments, located in the assignments section.

Course Description

An examination of philosophical issues on the theme of relativism. Are moral standards relative to cultures and/or moral frameworks? Are there incompatible or non-comparable ways of thinking about the world that are somehow equally good? Is science getting closer to the truth? Is rationality--the notion of a good reason to believe something--relative to cultural norms? What are selves? Is there a coherent form of relativism about the self? Discussion of these questions through the writings of contemporary philosophers such as Thomas Kuhn, Karl Popper, Gilbert Harman, Judith Thomson, and Derek Parfit. Emphasis on ways of making these vague questions precise, and critical evaluation of philosophical arguments.

 

Staff

Instructor:
Prof. Stephen Yablo

Course Meeting Times

Lectures:
Two sessions / week
1 hour / session

Recitations: One session / week
1 hour / session

Level

Undergraduate

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