Taking control

Conceptual engineering without (much) metasemantics

Bibliographic Data

ID21334980
AuthorsJennifer Nado (0000-0003-1680-2975, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume66
Issue10
Pages1974-2000
Publication date2023-11-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInquiry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-174X • E-ISSN: 1502-3923
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0020174x.2020.1850342
OpenAlexW3107435840
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited14

This paper critiques the semantics-driven approach to conceptual engineering presented in Herman Cappelen’s recent book, Fixing Language. I focus on three core aspects of Cappelen’s ‘Austerity Framework’: first, the claim that conceptual engineering targets the meanings of linguistic expressions (rather than concepts); second, the claim that the linguistic phenomenon of ‘samesaying’ fixes the limits of permissible revision; and third, the claim that the process of conceptual engineering is largely both outside of our control and epistemically inaccessible to us. I contrast the Austerity Framework with my own proposal, which I call the ‘Practical Role Account’. The Practical Role Account disavows a substantial role for metasemantics in a theory of conceptual engineering; I argue that it consequently both offers a more inclusive view on the limits of revision, and places the process of conceptual engineering back within our control

Austerity · Conceptual change · Conceptual framework · Control (management) · Epistemology · Management science · Phenomenon · Political science · Process (computing) · Programming language · Sociology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Engineering · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy

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