Conference "Democratizing Concepts" 11-12 September 2025
Concepts are not mere, inactive ‘ideas in our heads’. They structure our institutions, mediate our interactions, and frame our understanding of the world. The field of conceptual engineering has brought attention to the possibility of evaluating and revising concepts in a systematic way. But conceptual change is not confined to philosophy seminars and academic journals: it plays out in everyday conversations, public debates, activist movements, and policy decisions. From ‘gender’ and ‘race’, to ‘disability’ and ‘democracy’, the concepts that structure our social world are continually contested and negotiated. This conference brings together philosophers and social scientists to explore the social and political dimensions of conceptual revision. What does it mean to say that concepts are public and contestable? What are the practices through which new meanings get established? Who has the authority – or responsibility – to change the concepts that govern our social lives?
Thursday, 11 September
09:15–09:30
Welcome / opening remarks: Céline Henne, Yvonne Huetter-Almerigi, Matteo Santarelli
09:30–10:30
Matthieu Queloz (University of Bern): “Appraising Concepts”
10:30–11:30
Deborah Mühlebach (Freie Universität Berlin): “Moving Beyond Correctionism in Conceptual Disputes”
11:30–12:00
Break
12:00–13:00
Sarah Stitzlein (University of Cincinnati): “Pragmatist Concepts of Honesty and Truth During Populist Times”
13:00–15:00
Lunch
15:00–16:00
Gabriel Abend (University of Göttingen): “Words, Distinctions, and Other Dangerous Things”
16:00–17:00
Lynne Tirrell (University of Connecticut): Going Viral: Inference Licenses Run Amok?
Friday, 12 September
09:00–10:00
Roberto Frega (CNRS): “Democratising the Concept of Democracy? On a Conceptual Shift in Democratic Theory”
10:00–11:00
Daniel Stanley (Future Narratives Lab): “Working with ‘Narratives’ in Civil Society”
11:00–11:20
Closing remarks: Céline Henne, Yvonne Huetter-Almerigi, Matteo Santarelli
This conference is organized by Céline Henne, Yvonne Huetter-Almerigi, and Matteo Santarelli and funded by PRIN 2022 PNRR “Democratizing Concepts (DeCo)” Prot. P2022ARREH, CUP J53D23016340001 (PI. Matteo Santarelli).
Published on: September 19 2025
