This teaching aims to provide general knowledge regarding the concept of rationality in twentieth century philosophy and psychology. In particular, it will cover the so-called "Standard Picture of Rationality," as per the definition given by Edward Stein, the subsequent elaboration of the concepts of "Bounded Rationality" by Herbert Simon and "Ecological Rationality" by Peter Todd and Gerd Gigerenzer. Theoretical issues related to irrationality will also be discussed, and the possibility of thinking about the concept of rationality as an "embodied" quality of the subject will be addressed. This teaching also aims to strengthen students' capacity to understand, analyze, present, and discuss the theoretical issues related to the course topics.
No prerequisite apply
This part of the course will consist of lectures and student-led seminars. During the first two hours of class, the teacher will present the general topics of the course (occasionally using interactive teaching options, such as open questions to students, the creation of small debates, and the gamification of difficult topics), namely the history of the concept of rationality according to twentieth-century philosophy and psychology, theoretical problems related to the concept of irrationality, and related philosophical issues. During the last hour of each day of class, a group of students will have 20 minutes to present the content of one article. The number of students in each group will depend on how many students will volunteer for this activity. The articles that the students will present will be selected in advance by the teacher based on their relevance to the course topics and sent to the students one month before the beginning of class. After each presentation, the students and the teacher will lead a discussion on the article's key points, linking them to the topics presented in the lectures.
Written exam. The students can write two short essays (3000-4000 words each) or a longer one (6000-8000 words). In both cases, they must send the essay/s to the teachers at least ten days before the exam date.
If students choose to write two essays, the first essay will need to focus on a topic discussed during the first part of the course, and the second essay will need to focus on another topic discussed in the second part of the course.
If they choose to write one essay, it will need to focus on two topics, one related to the first part of the course and another based on the second part of the course. These two topics should be connected in a meaningful way.
The essays will be considered suitable for evaluation if:
Aspects of the essays considered for evaluation:
This course will focus on a selection of topics in cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and cognitive epistemology. Specifically, the following topics will be examined in detail: the standard picture of rationality, bounded rationality, ecological rationality, irrationality, self-deception, computational theory of mind, embedded mind, extended mind, situated mind, enactive mind, and embodied rationality.
There is no difference in the teaching load between attending and non-attending students. For all students, the e-learning platform will be used as the main communication mode.
