Preliminary Scouting Reports from the Outer Limits of Conceptual Engineering

Abstract

Abstract If we distinguish between the conceptual engineering task of determining what concepts can be built and the conceptual ethics task of determining what concepts ought to be used once built, we make clear the possibility of a conceptual maximalist position that avoids conceptual ethics by holding that the norms of theorizing require a big theory including all truths expressible using any concepts. But the conceptual maximalist then assumes the burden of saying what the range of possible concepts (equivalently, possible languages) is. Despite the attractions of conceptual maximalism, we lack even the beginnings of an answer to the question of what concepts there could be.

Topics & Concepts