module

Undergraduate Module Descriptor

PHL2056: The Nature of Normativity

This module descriptor refers to the 2023/4 academic year.

Overview

In this module you will examine core debates surrounding the nature of normativity. What is normativity? How do we account for normative practice and discourse within the natural world (a world without anything supernatural). These questions are here framed in the most general way, but perhaps different areas of normativity require different treatment. We examine moral norms, non-moral social norms (like politeness), epistemic and informational norms, and, finally, medical norms. We also examine the consequences of different views of the nature of normativity for the normative domains themselves. Do they promote relativism or absolutism or particularism about that domain?