Impactful Conceptual Engineering

Designing Technological Artefacts Ethically

Bibliographic Data

ID21701766
AuthorsHerman Veluwenkamp (0000-0003-1783-459X, University of Groningen, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume28
Issue1
Pages155-170
Publication date2025-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthical Theory and Moral Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1386-2820 • E-ISSN: 1572-8447
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10677-024-10459-8
OpenAlexW4401485352
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited57

Conceptual engineering is the design, evaluation and implementation of concepts. Despite its popularity, some have argued that the methodology is not worthwhile, because the implementation of new concepts is both inscrutable and beyond our control. In the recent literature we see different responses to this worry. Some have argued that it is for political reasons just as well that implementation is such a difficult task, while others have challenged the metasemantic and social assumptions that underlie this skepticism about implementation. In this paper, I argue that even if implementation is as difficult as critics maintain, there is at least one context in which conceptual engineering is extremely impactful and demonstrably so: the design of new technology. Different conceptions of control, freedom, trust, etc. lead to different designs and implementations of systems that are built to embed those concepts. This means that if we want to design for control, freedom, trust, etc., we have to decide which conception we ought to use. When we determine what the appropriate conception of a concept is in a technological context and use this conception to operationalize a norm or value, we generate requirements which have real-world effects. This not only shows that conceptual engineering can be extremely impactful, the fact that it leads to different design requirements means that we have a way to evaluate our conceptual choices and that we can use this feedback loop to improve upon our conceptual work By illustrating the direct impacts of different conceptions on technology design, this paper underscores the practical applicability and value of conceptual engineering, demonstrating how it serves as a crucial bridge between abstract philosophical analysis and concrete technological innovation

Conceptual design · Conceptual framework · Epistemology · Human–computer interaction · Knowledge management · Management science · Operationalization · Popularity · Skepticism · Computer Science · Engineering · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Psychology · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

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