Conceptual engineering: The revolution in philosophy you've never heard of

Abstract

This text discusses the history of concepts and the role of conceptual engineering in addressing the problems of “counterexample philosophy” and “conceptual analysis.” It argues for the importance of using the “divide and conquer” method to preserve the full extensional coverage of concepts and avoid linguistic problems. The author criticizes Chalmers’ understanding of conceptual engineering and offers examples to illustrate the difference between “de novo engineering” and “re-engineering.” This text is significant for its insights into the nature of concepts, the importance of conceptual engineering, and the value of distinguishing different senses of concepts to improve understanding and communication. – AI-generated abstract.