Koch
Biographic Data
| ID | 17949 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Koch |
| FAMILY NAME | Koch |
| SIGNATURE | KOCH |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ruhr University Bochum |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9360-799X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 55 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Ergänzende Bemerkungen zum Sarkophag der Aurelia Botiane Demetria
Regarding the article on the sarcophagus of Aurelia Botiane Demetria in Gephyra 30 (2025) 177-183, some supplementary remarks are made. It belongs to the "normal type" of architectural sarcophagi and was made around 220 AD. The portrait was carved from a boss at an unknown time after Demetria's death. It is the only known example where the architectural design does not continue on all four sides, but rather the back is occupied by a figurative fr…
Ameliorative projects, psychological essentialism, and the power of nouns
Ameliorative projects design and propagate new linguistic content for some expressions we use for political or social justice purposes. These projects are often driven by an anti‐essentialist agenda: they aim to debunk the idea that social categories such as “woman”, “man”, or “race” are constituted by natural essences. But critics argue that nouns tend to trigger essentialist thinking. And because ameliorative projects typically retain nouns, it…
Foundational issues in conceptual engineering: Introduction and overview
This is the introduction to the Special Issue ‘Foundational Issues in Conceptual Engineering’. The issue contains contributions by James Andow, Delia Belleri, David Chalmers, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, Eugen Fischer, Viktoria Knoll, Edouard Machery and Amie Thomasson. We, the editors, provide a brief introduction to the main topics of the issue and then summarize its contributions
Folk Concepts of Race, Cross-culturally
The investigation of folk concepts of race has been central to many theoretical and experimental contributions in recent decades; however, most of these contributions have been centred around the North American cultural context. Despite many philosophers pointing to a possible discrepancy between the European, and especially the German, context and the U.S.-American one, a systematic investigation has yet to be undertaken. This paper provides the…
Merely verbal agreement, speaker-meaning, and defective context
In a merely verbal agreement, a misunderstanding between two parties creates the false impression of agreement: one or both parties think they agree on something, when in fact they do not. There is reason to believe that merely verbal agreements are as common as merely verbal disagreements and disputes. Unlike the latter, however, merely verbal agreements have so far been ignored by philosophers. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to cl…
How words matter: A psycholinguistic argument for meaning revision
Linguistic interventions aim to change our linguistic practices. A commonly discussed type of linguistic intervention is meaning revision, which seeks to associate existing words with new or revised meanings. But why does retaining old words matter so much? Why not instead introduce new words to express the newly defined meanings? Drawing on relevant psycholinguistic research, this paper develops an empirically motivated, general, and practically…
Heavy‐duty conceptual engineering
Conceptual engineering is the process of assessing and improving our conceptual repertoire. Some authors have claimed that introducing or revising concepts through conceptual engineering can go as far as expanding the realm of thinkable thoughts and thus enable us to form beliefs, hypotheses, wishes, or desires that we are currently unable to form. If true, this would allow conceptual engineers to contribute to solving stubborn problems – problem…
What is conceptual engineering good for? The argument from nameability
It is often assumed that how we talk about the world matters a great deal. This is one reason why conceptual engineers seek to improve our linguistic practices by advocating novel uses of our words, or by inventing new ones altogether. A core idea shared by conceptual engineers is that by changing our language in this way, we can reap all sorts of cognitive and practical benefits, such as improving our theorizing, combating hermeneutical injustic…
Conceptual Infrastructure and Conceptual Engineering
His book Fascism, Aviation and Mythical Modernity (2015) scrutinizes the aviation discourse in Italy and Germany, reading it as a blueprint for a fascist mythical modernity.His second book (habilitation) deals with the transformation of European understandings of time and history and the chronopolitics that arose from modern temporality.Nora Binder is a postdoctoral researcher in the history of the human and social sciences at Universitt Konstanz…
Why Conceptual Engineers Should Not Worry About Topics
This paper argues for explanatory eliminativism about topics (and cognates, such as subject matters) relative to the domain of conceptual engineering. It has become usual to think that topics serve an important explanatory role in theories of conceptual engineering, namely, to determine the limits of revision. I argue, first, that such limits can be understood either as the normative limits pertaining to the justification of conceptual engineerin…
Folk Intuitions about Reference Change and the Causal Theory of Reference
In this paper, we present and discuss the findings of two experiments about reference change. Cases of reference change have sometimes been invoked to challenge traditional versions of semantic externalism, but the relevant cases have never been tested empirically. The experiments we have conducted use variants of the famous Twin Earth scenario to test folk intuitions about whether natural kind terms such as ‘water’ or ‘salt’ switch reference aft…
Conceptual engineering: A road map to practice
This paper discusses the logical space of alternative conceptual engineering projects, with a specific focus on (1) the processes, (2) the targets and goals, and (3) the methods of such projects. We present an overview of how these three aspects interact in the contemporary literature and discuss those alternative projects that have yet to be explored based on our suggested typology. We show how choices about each element in a conceptual engineer…
There is no dilemma for conceptual engineering. Reply to Max Deutsch
Max Deutsch (in: Philosophical studies, online-first. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-020-01416-z, 2020) has recently argued that conceptual engineering is stuck in a dilemma. If it is construed as the activity of revising the semantic meanings of existing terms, then it faces an unsurmountable implementation problem. If, on the other hand, it is construed as the activity of introducing new technical terms, then it becomes trivial. According to De…
Engineering what? On concepts in conceptual engineering
Conceptual engineers aim to revise rather than describe our concepts. But what are concepts? And how does one engineer them? Answering these questions is of central importance for implementing and theorizing about conceptual engineering. This paper discusses and criticizes two influential views of this issue: semanticism , according to which conceptual engineers aim to change linguistic meanings, and psychologism , according to which conceptual e…
The externalist challenge to conceptual engineering
Experimental philosophy and the method of cases
In this paper, we first briefly survey the main responses to the challenge that experimental philosophy poses to the method of cases, given the common assumption that the latter is crucially based on intuitive judgments about cases. Second, we discuss two of the most popular responses in more detail: the expertise defense and the mischaracterization objection. Our take on the expertise defense is that the available empirical data do not support t…
Case Study on Privacy-Aware Social Media Data Processing in Disaster Management
Social media data is heavily used to analyze and evaluate situations in times of disasters, and derive decisions for action from it. In these critical situations, it is not surprising that privacy is often considered a secondary problem. In order to prevent subsequent abuse, theft or public exposure of collected datasets, however, protecting the privacy of social media users is crucial. Avoiding unnecessary data retention is an important question…
Carnivore or Chameleon: The Fate of Cinema Studies
Conceptual engineering: A road map to practice
This paper discusses the logical space of alternative conceptual engineering projects, with a specific focus on (1) the processes, (2) the targets and goals, and (3) the methods of such projects. We present an overview of how these three aspects interact in the contemporary literature and discuss those alternative projects that have yet to be explored based on our suggested typology. We show how choices about each element in a conceptual engineer…
The externalist challenge to conceptual engineering
Engineering what? On concepts in conceptual engineering
Conceptual engineers aim to revise rather than describe our concepts. But what are concepts? And how does one engineer them? Answering these questions is of central importance for implementing and theorizing about conceptual engineering. This paper discusses and criticizes two influential views of this issue: semanticism , according to which conceptual engineers aim to change linguistic meanings, and psychologism , according to which conceptual e…
What is conceptual engineering good for? The argument from nameability
It is often assumed that how we talk about the world matters a great deal. This is one reason why conceptual engineers seek to improve our linguistic practices by advocating novel uses of our words, or by inventing new ones altogether. A core idea shared by conceptual engineers is that by changing our language in this way, we can reap all sorts of cognitive and practical benefits, such as improving our theorizing, combating hermeneutical injustic…
Experimental philosophy and the method of cases
In this paper, we first briefly survey the main responses to the challenge that experimental philosophy poses to the method of cases, given the common assumption that the latter is crucially based on intuitive judgments about cases. Second, we discuss two of the most popular responses in more detail: the expertise defense and the mischaracterization objection. Our take on the expertise defense is that the available empirical data do not support t…
Carnivore or Chameleon: The Fate of Cinema Studies
Carnivore or Chameleon: The Fate of Cinema Studies
Case Study on Privacy-Aware Social Media Data Processing in Disaster Management
Social media data is heavily used to analyze and evaluate situations in times of disasters, and derive decisions for action from it. In these critical situations, it is not surprising that privacy is often considered a secondary problem. In order to prevent subsequent abuse, theft or public exposure of collected datasets, however, protecting the privacy of social media users is crucial. Avoiding unnecessary data retention is an important question…
There is no dilemma for conceptual engineering. Reply to Max Deutsch
Max Deutsch (in: Philosophical studies, online-first. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-020-01416-z, 2020) has recently argued that conceptual engineering is stuck in a dilemma. If it is construed as the activity of revising the semantic meanings of existing terms, then it faces an unsurmountable implementation problem. If, on the other hand, it is construed as the activity of introducing new technical terms, then it becomes trivial. According to De…
Engineering what? On concepts in conceptual engineering
Conceptual engineers aim to revise rather than describe our concepts. But what are concepts? And how does one engineer them? Answering these questions is of central importance for implementing and theorizing about conceptual engineering. This paper discusses and criticizes two influential views of this issue: semanticism , according to which conceptual engineers aim to change linguistic meanings, and psychologism , according to which conceptual e…
The externalist challenge to conceptual engineering
Experimental philosophy and the method of cases
In this paper, we first briefly survey the main responses to the challenge that experimental philosophy poses to the method of cases, given the common assumption that the latter is crucially based on intuitive judgments about cases. Second, we discuss two of the most popular responses in more detail: the expertise defense and the mischaracterization objection. Our take on the expertise defense is that the available empirical data do not support t…
Folk Intuitions about Reference Change and the Causal Theory of Reference
In this paper, we present and discuss the findings of two experiments about reference change. Cases of reference change have sometimes been invoked to challenge traditional versions of semantic externalism, but the relevant cases have never been tested empirically. The experiments we have conducted use variants of the famous Twin Earth scenario to test folk intuitions about whether natural kind terms such as ‘water’ or ‘salt’ switch reference aft…
Conceptual engineering: A road map to practice
This paper discusses the logical space of alternative conceptual engineering projects, with a specific focus on (1) the processes, (2) the targets and goals, and (3) the methods of such projects. We present an overview of how these three aspects interact in the contemporary literature and discuss those alternative projects that have yet to be explored based on our suggested typology. We show how choices about each element in a conceptual engineer…
Conceptual Infrastructure and Conceptual Engineering
His book Fascism, Aviation and Mythical Modernity (2015) scrutinizes the aviation discourse in Italy and Germany, reading it as a blueprint for a fascist mythical modernity.His second book (habilitation) deals with the transformation of European understandings of time and history and the chronopolitics that arose from modern temporality.Nora Binder is a postdoctoral researcher in the history of the human and social sciences at Universitt Konstanz…
Why Conceptual Engineers Should Not Worry About Topics
This paper argues for explanatory eliminativism about topics (and cognates, such as subject matters) relative to the domain of conceptual engineering. It has become usual to think that topics serve an important explanatory role in theories of conceptual engineering, namely, to determine the limits of revision. I argue, first, that such limits can be understood either as the normative limits pertaining to the justification of conceptual engineerin…
How words matter: A psycholinguistic argument for meaning revision
Linguistic interventions aim to change our linguistic practices. A commonly discussed type of linguistic intervention is meaning revision, which seeks to associate existing words with new or revised meanings. But why does retaining old words matter so much? Why not instead introduce new words to express the newly defined meanings? Drawing on relevant psycholinguistic research, this paper develops an empirically motivated, general, and practically…
Heavy‐duty conceptual engineering
Conceptual engineering is the process of assessing and improving our conceptual repertoire. Some authors have claimed that introducing or revising concepts through conceptual engineering can go as far as expanding the realm of thinkable thoughts and thus enable us to form beliefs, hypotheses, wishes, or desires that we are currently unable to form. If true, this would allow conceptual engineers to contribute to solving stubborn problems – problem…
What is conceptual engineering good for? The argument from nameability
It is often assumed that how we talk about the world matters a great deal. This is one reason why conceptual engineers seek to improve our linguistic practices by advocating novel uses of our words, or by inventing new ones altogether. A core idea shared by conceptual engineers is that by changing our language in this way, we can reap all sorts of cognitive and practical benefits, such as improving our theorizing, combating hermeneutical injustic…
Ameliorative projects, psychological essentialism, and the power of nouns
Ameliorative projects design and propagate new linguistic content for some expressions we use for political or social justice purposes. These projects are often driven by an anti‐essentialist agenda: they aim to debunk the idea that social categories such as “woman”, “man”, or “race” are constituted by natural essences. But critics argue that nouns tend to trigger essentialist thinking. And because ameliorative projects typically retain nouns, it…
Foundational issues in conceptual engineering: Introduction and overview
This is the introduction to the Special Issue ‘Foundational Issues in Conceptual Engineering’. The issue contains contributions by James Andow, Delia Belleri, David Chalmers, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, Eugen Fischer, Viktoria Knoll, Edouard Machery and Amie Thomasson. We, the editors, provide a brief introduction to the main topics of the issue and then summarize its contributions
Folk Concepts of Race, Cross-culturally
The investigation of folk concepts of race has been central to many theoretical and experimental contributions in recent decades; however, most of these contributions have been centred around the North American cultural context. Despite many philosophers pointing to a possible discrepancy between the European, and especially the German, context and the U.S.-American one, a systematic investigation has yet to be undertaken. This paper provides the…
Merely verbal agreement, speaker-meaning, and defective context
In a merely verbal agreement, a misunderstanding between two parties creates the false impression of agreement: one or both parties think they agree on something, when in fact they do not. There is reason to believe that merely verbal agreements are as common as merely verbal disagreements and disputes. Unlike the latter, however, merely verbal agreements have so far been ignored by philosophers. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to cl…
Ergänzende Bemerkungen zum Sarkophag der Aurelia Botiane Demetria
Regarding the article on the sarcophagus of Aurelia Botiane Demetria in Gephyra 30 (2025) 177-183, some supplementary remarks are made. It belongs to the "normal type" of architectural sarcophagi and was made around 220 AD. The portrait was carved from a boss at an unknown time after Demetria's death. It is the only known example where the architectural design does not continue on all four sides, but rather the back is occupied by a figurative fr…
Epistemology (11 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Philosophy and Theoretical Science (6 works) · Engineering (5 works) · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics (5 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (5 works) · Metaphysics (5 works)