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CfP topical collection of Synthese on "Concept Formation in the Natural & Social Sciences", Deadline: 30 Sep 2020

Synthese Topical Collection: Concept Formation in the Natural and Social 
Sciences: Empirical and Normative Aspects

The deadline for submissions is 30th September, 2020.


Guest editors:

Georg Brun (University of Bern, Switzerland)

Catherine Herfeld (University of Zurich, Switzerland)

Kevin Reuter (University of Zurich, Switzerland)

Topic overview:

Concept formation has recently become a widely discussed topic in 
philosophy under the headings of ?conceptual engineering?, ?conceptual 
ethics?, and ?ameliorative analysis?. Much of this work has been inspired 
either by the method of explication or by ameliorative projects. In the 
former case, concept formation is usually seen as a tool of the sciences, 
of formal disciplines, and of philosophy. In the latter case, concept 
formation is seen as a tool in the service of social progress. While 
recent philosophical discussions on concept formation have addressed 
natural sciences such as physics as well as various life sciences, so far 
there is only little direct engagement with the social sciences. To 
address this shortcoming is important because many debates about socially 
relevant concepts such as power, gender, democracy, risk, justice, or 
rationality, may best be understood as engaging in conceptual engineering. 
This topical collection addresses the nature and structure of concept 
formation in the natural and the social sciences alike, both as a process 
taking place within science and as an activity that aims at a broader 
impact in society. This will foster understanding of how concept formation 
proceeds not only in the natural sciences but also in disciplines such as 
psychology, cognitive science, political science, sociology and economics. 
Thereby, we aim at expanding the scope of the philosophical debate about 
concept formation more generally.

Papers could address questions such as:

- Which methods of concept formation should be distinguished and why do 
scholars select them?

- What are similarities and differences between concept formation in the 
natural and the social sciences?

- How does concept formation in the social sciences work in specific 
cases?

- How does and how should empirical research into concept use bear on 
concept formation?

- How is concept formation shaped by factors such as current language use, 
measurement, theoretical virtues, and socio-political goals?

- Do values enter processes of concept formation in science generally, and 
in the social sciences in particular?

We will consider projects that use either a systematic, a historical, or 
an empirical approach. We are particularly interested in 
experimental-philosophical work (e.g., questionnaire studies, corpus 
analysis) that discusses its use and/or its consequences for explicating 
or engineering socially-relevant concepts.


Submit your paper through the Synthese Editorial Manager under the 
dedicated heading "T.C.: Concept Formation in the Natural and Social 
Sciences".

For more information, please contact the guest editors:

Georg Brun: georg.brun@philo.unibe.ch<mailto:georg.brun@philo.unibe.ch>

Catherine Herfeld: 
catherine.herfeld@uzh.ch<mailto:catherine.herfeld@uzh.ch>

Kevin Reuter: kevin.reuter@uzh.ch<mailto:kevin.reuter@uzh.ch>
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