ABSTRACT
By Slurs is meant thick concepts which disparage some social group – for example, a race or gender. Various attempts have been made to explain how they work: semantically, pragmatically or in terms of a separate, non-truth-conditional type of meaning. That none of these strategies seem quite to work is itself a puzzling datum. Conceptual Engineering may be regarded as an alternative to Conceptual Analysis, which has been subject to objections, including the well-known ‘Paradox of Analysis’. It is arguable that Conceptual Engineering is very old, but came into its own with the work of Carnap and Quine, who called the procedure ‘explication’. More modern conceptual engineers broaden the idea, both in the kinds of engineering they pursue, and in aiming for ethical and political change. Proponents of Experimental Philosophy recommend the conducting of surveys of ordinary people for finding answers to certain philosophical questions, such as whether a subject in certain circumstances would have knowledge in a certain proposition. This advice is subject to some doubts; perhaps it ignores philosophical expertise, perhaps the effects of ‘framing’ are underestimated; perhaps answers vary depending on age, political or religious persuasion, gender, culture, personality type or geographical area.
