A Picture of a Cat against Cholera? Rationality in History as Seen from a Universalist Perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID21503554
AuthorsJong-Pil Yoon (0000-0001-5109-2425, Dongguk University), Jong–pil Yoon (Dongguk University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume34
Issue3
Pages281-293
Publication date2020-05-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Epistemology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0269-1728 • E-ISSN: 1464-5297
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02691728.2020.1720033
OpenAlexW3007725635
LanguageEN
References cited29

This essay has two purposes. One is to present a detailed analysis of a historical example to defend the validity of the idea of universal rationality. Although diverse arguments have been offered by philosophers in support of the universal character of rationality, there are only a few in-depth discussions of concrete historical examples. So, the historical analysis presented here will supplement the existing theoretical arguments for universal rationality. The other purpose is to reveal the nature of the relationship between universal rationality and Orientalism. It will be argued that Orientalism has been grounded not in the idea of universal rationality per se, but in linking universal rationality with truth by way of practical success. Orientalism was founded upon a kind of certainty about rationality’s truth-conduciveness that could be obtained only by defeating skepticism; however, that certainty, I will argue, is unwarranted. Therefore, as far as rationality is concerned, the problem with Orientalism is not that Europeans treated something local as universal but that they conferred upon universals an unwarranted certainty

Certainty · Ecological rationality · Epistemology · Orientalism · Rationality · Skepticism · Sociology · Computer Science · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy

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