Methodology

Submissions should explicitly engage with one or more of the following 11 methodological procedures for addressing the question “What is X?”. These procedures are intended as heuristic and complementary tools, not as rigid constraints.

1. DEFINTIONS.  Analysis of dictionary, encyclopedic, technical, or contemporary AI-generated definitions as starting points for conceptual clarification.

2. QUOTATIONS.  Use of philosophical, literary, or scientific quotations that highlight a salient aspect of the concept under investigation.

3. PROVERBS. Examination of anonymous or traditional sayings as expressions of collective conceptual intuitions.

4. JOKES. Analysis of humorous formulations as sources of philosophical insight and conceptual tension.

5. WORDS CLOUDS.  Exploration of semantic neighborhoods through synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, and related lexical structures.

6. VENN DIAGRAMS. Diagrammatic analysis of a concept in relation to other concepts.

7. THEORY OF OPPOSITION. Use of contradiction, contrariety, subcontrariety, and related structures (e.g. squares or hexagons of opposition) to clarify conceptual boundaries.

8. PYRAMIDS OF MEANING. Semiotic analysis distinguishing word (language), thing (reality), and idea (thought).

9. CATEGORIZATION. Exhaustive and exclusive division of a domain in order to situate a concept within a structured taxonomy.

10. TYPIFICATION. Use of paradigmatic cases or typical examples to achieve conceptual understanding beyond mere enumeration.

11. SYMBOLIZATION. Representation of a concept through a unifying metaphor or symbol that condenses multiple dimensions of meaning.

See the example below where most of these methodological procedures have been used: