FIL4400 - Autumn 2019

Syllabus/achievement requirements

FIL4400 �C Philosophy of language/logic,

Fall 2019 Conceptual Engineering: What it is and its role in philosophy

Conceptual Engineering has recently emerged as one of the central themes of philosophy (This is in part due to the work done in ConceptLab at the University of Oslo.) This course provides an introduction to the field. Topics to be discussed include: What is conceptual engineering and what role does it play in philosophy? What are the limits of conceptual engineering? What are concepts? How can concepts be improved? Is conceptual improvement within our control? What is the role of genealogy is conceptual engineering? Can our concept of knowledge be improved? Can our concept of beauty be improved? Can our concept of truth be improved? Can our race and gender concepts be improved? Can our moral notions be improved?

Readings

Cappelen: Fixing Language: An Essay on Conceptual Engineering (available for free for all students via Oxford Scholarship Online: https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780198814719.001.0001/oso-9780198814719

Cappelen: Conceptual Engineering: The Master Argument

http://hermancappelen.net/docs/ConceptualEngineeringTheMasterArgument.pdf

Cappelen and Plunkett: A Guided Tour of Conceptual Engineering

http://hermancappelen.net/docs/AGuidedTourOfConceptualEngineeringAndConceptualEthics.pdf

Plunkett and Sundell: Disagreement and the Semantics of Normative and Evaluative Terms

https://www.dartmouth.edu/~plunkett/disagreement-and-the-semant.pdf

Chalmers: Verbal Disputes

http://consc.net/papers/verbal.pdf

Matti Eklund: Replacing Truth?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ma9z0sa0hjzr7eh/eklund_rt.pdf?dl=0