ConceptuallyEngineering Bodies

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

Marx claimed that the “first fact of human history is the corporeal organization (körperliche Organisation) of the body.” Is the body’s organization a fact? On one view of facts, this means that the body’s organization is immutable. On another view of facts, this means that its organization is as fickle as the telling of history. Since the 2010s, “conceptual engineering” emerged as a hot topic across multiple philosophical traditions and fields, and its central concern is whether and how concepts can and ought to be made better. This course is focused on the following two questions: How have we conceptually engineered the human body? And how might we better engineer it, if we should? We will begin with debates over the meaning and role of conceptual engineering relative to the task of philosophy before turning to examples of it in action by focusing on recent research on disability, gender, and race. We will end the course by analyzing metaphilosophical arguments, both positive and critical, concerning the ameliorative possibilities of conceptual engineering tout court.