CfP topical collection of Synthese on "Concept Formation in the Natural & Social Sciences"

Concept formation has recently become a widely discussed topic in philosophy under the headings of “conceptual engineering”, “conceptual ethics”, and “ameliorative analysis”. While recent philosophical discussions on concept formation have addressed natural sciences such as physics as well as various life sciences, so far there is only little direct engagement with the social sciences. To address this shortcoming is important because many debates about socially relevant concepts such as power, gender, democracy, risk, justice, or rationality, may best be understood as engaging in conceptual engineering. This topical collection addresses the nature and structure of concept formation in the natural and the social sciences alike, both as a process taking place within science and as an activity that aims at a broader impact in society.

We aim at expanding the scope of the philosophical debate about concept formation more generally. We will consider projects that use either a systematic, a historical, or an empirical approach. We are particularly interested in experimental-philosophical work (e.g., questionnaire studies, corpus analysis) that discusses its use and/or its consequences for explicating or engineering socially-relevant concepts.