The effects of using potentially harmful concepts and terms have been increasingly studied in the political and social sciences, as well in areas such as gender studies and psychology. If we set ourselves the task of reducing discrimination through the use of socially relevant yet distorting concepts, we need to determine whether and how those concepts can be best re-engineered, i.e. modified. To do so, we also need to know how these concepts function at present and what implications their use has on the way we think, feel and act. In contrast to the many projects of engineering scientific concepts that have emerged, however, we need to pay close attention to the use of concepts in everyday and public discourse. Given the fundamental importance of these terms in everyday exchanges, we cannot merely rely on our intuitions on how these terms are used. Thus, if we want to know more precisely, how terms like `woman` and `boy` are used and understood by laypeople, then we have to conduct empirical studies. Experimental methods are therefore a crucial means to provide the empirical ground to successfully engineer our concepts for the aim of a language that is both politically correct and reduces discrimination.
In this summer school we will
(1) introduce and analyze in greater detail the three thematic strands conceptual engineering, experimental methods, and politically correct language, that play an increasingly important role in contemporary philosophical, linguistic, and psychological discussions;
(2) investigate differences and conflicts between “new” and “old” methodological paradigms, but also ways in which they might complement each other;
(3) examine their potential implications for the relationships between the humanities and science on the one hand, and public debate on the other;
(4) discuss the potential role of the humanities in reducing stereotyping and discrimination through (re-)engineering concepts;
(5) run experimental and engineering projects in small groups of 4-5 students.
There can be no doubt that conceptual engineers and experimental philosophers have started to cross boundaries into fields like psychology and the social sciences. This summer school is therefore not only suited to PhD students in philosophy, but also students from psychology, linguistics, the cognitive sciences as well as the social sciences.