The notion of rationality, which is used to define the ability to reason correctly or justify one's thoughts, has prevailed in a wide range of studies, including religion or anthropology, due to of the inability to create a universal definition. about what is rational. How can we collectively decide what is “irrational” or “rational” in a world characterized by an immense variety of cultural practices and beliefs, when what is accepted in one area may not be tolerated in another? Perhaps the general view that Westernized societies have a correct interpretation of rationality is a legitimate conclusion, but this agreement could simply be the result of the influence and power they have exercised over the way the world has been ruled for such a long period of time. In order to study the topic of rationality, including the ideas stated above, Paul Stoller presents three approaches in his essay on rationality. These different tactics are: universalist, relativist and phenomenological. (240) The idea of ​​rationality is considered a more recent construct, loosely inspired by European Enlightenment thought, then invented at the end of the 19th century following the study of human evolution. However, this expansion was limited to European culture until the French philosopher Lucian Levy-Bruhl included and developed the rationality of "primitive" societies. While most thinkers rejected the possibility that a civilization deviating from European customs could act "rationally," Levy-Bruhl said they were simply at an earlier stage of societal advances in science and then religion. His ideas are used to justify the practice of magic and mysticism across cultures, such as in the West African town of Wanzerbe. (241)A universalist lens...... middle of paper ......o interpret or react to events, or realities, and what determines what is rational is to designate the attitude the most “natural”. Schutz argued that the resulting "natural" attitude is the most rational in the context of the person in question, because its most innate response reflects the most revered social beliefs. (249) To defend non-Western practices, phenomenologists focus on the idea of ​​embodiment, a concept that discredits the separation of mind and body. An example of this idea are the Songhay sorcerers and griots, who allow themselves to be overcome by the complex elements of the world in order to relate to the rationality of it all. (252) Therefore, determining what is "rational" is a complex and ultimately indefinable task since the very concept gives rise to a wide variety of interpretations, even in favor of primitive societies...