Conceptual engineering is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with assessing representational devices such as concepts and words. Conceptual engineers looks for the problems with such devices and attempt to come up with ways of improving flawed concepts: they attempt to say how those concepts should be. This is the first volume devoted entirely to the possibility, benefits, problems, and applications of conceptual engineering and conceptual ethics. It consists of twenty chapters; some advocate for the field, while others develop sceptical arguments, and some focus on the various methodological issues that arise while others apply the method to issues in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and social and political philosophy.
This paper argues that the metaphorical representation of concepts and the appropriation of language-based construals can be hypothesized as additional sources of conceptual change alongside those previously proposed. Analyses of construals implicit in the lay and scientific use of the noun <i>energy</i> from the perspective of the theory of conceptual metaphor are summarized. The experientially grounded metaphorical construals identified in both uses help conceptualize the shift from the concrete, naïve to the abstract, scientific understanding of energy. The case of the concept of energy motivates the more general hypothesis that an important part of learning a highly abstract (even mathematical) concept is the appropriation of experientially grounded metaphorical construals implicit in scientific discourse. Pedagogical implications of this proposal are discussed.
In cooperation with giz - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH ; Recent developments in the field of international cooperation call for renewed attention to the role of local governance in development and emphasize the role of local governments and local communities for processes of inclusion and public well-being. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) obliges States Parties to make local development processes inclusive of persons with disabilities. The 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, the UN HABITAT III New Urban Agenda and further global policy frameworks reaffirm the role of the local level for sustainable development and emphasize the need to foster accessible public infrastructure in cities and municipalities. Today, local governments across the globe, exert a decisive influence over the living conditions and quality of life of a nation's citizens, including persons with disabilities. This raises the need for an in-depth discussion on the role of organizing the immediate physical and social environment of cities and municipalities with regard to the elimination of barriers and the provision of opportunities for participation and living a self-determined life. This concept paper was produced in cooperation with the GIZ Global Project 'Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities' on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It provides a strategic perspective and a basic conceptual framework for disability-inclusive local development. It aims to equip policy makers and practitioners in the fields of international cooperation and local development with a conceptual approach and practical entry points for disability mainstreaming in cities and municipalities.
Approaches to the study of international relations employ a wide variety of concepts and indicators. The interrelationships among these concepts often are specified in conceptual schemes, models, or theories. This supplementary issue of World Politics presents several approaches to international relations theory which utilize familiar concepts, such as decision-making, crisis, and interdependence, and also concepts (frequently borrowed from other disciplines) that are less familiar, e.g., entrepreneurial and consumer roles, free riders, and externalities. The diversity of approaches and the variety of models specified by the contributors led the co-editors to commission an index focusing on concepts and the variables used to tap the concepts (indicators) rather than a more traditional listing of names, places, and events.
In this article the conceptual components for the construction of a possible Citizen Development Index (IDC), which can be potentially established to capture the different actions taken by "Citizens" in different social, cultural, political, environmental aspects are identified, technological and economic. The methodology used was the conceptual analysis: citizen and citizenship, its scope and size, its trend against the parameter of duty and / or right, considering the national development in the field of "duty", that is, their responsibility, their contribution; thus establish a concept of citizen development that includes the different areas of action of the subject citizen (subject to duty). Some of the results is that both concepts of citizenship and citizen are focused and designed mostly from the perspective of law and relate to a large percentage only with elements of citizen participation. It is important to have a mechanism (index) capture this type of activity, which may be, once built, reviewed and adjusted by the community, an element to generate baseline information regarding such activities by different people, which are important for the development of society, and that is the (agent - individual), the basic element of change of the territory and society. It was concluded that it is necessary to establish an initial route for the establishment of an IDC that conceptually support the establishment or construction of an index that captures each individual - residents of a company, the level of responsibility, contribution and collaboration for improving it ; este artículo se identifican los componentes conceptuales para la construcción de un posible Ãndice de Desarrollo Ciudadano (I.D.C.), el cual pueda ser potencialmente establecido para capturar las diferentes acciones realizadas por "Ciudadanos†en sus diferentes dimensiones social, cultural, política, ambiental, tecnológica y económica. La metodología empleada fue el análisis conceptual: ciudadano y ciudadanía, su ámbito o dimensión, su tendencia frente al parámetro de deber y/o derecho, considerando el desarrollo ciudadano en la esfera del "deberâ€, es decir, su responsabilidad, su aporte; de esta forma establecer un concepto de desarrollo ciudadano que incluya los diferentes ámbitos de acción del sujeto ciudadano (sujeto de deber). Alguno de los resultados obtenidos es que tanto los conceptos de ciudadanía como de ciudadano se encuentran enfocados y concebidos en su mayoría desde el enfoque del derecho y se relacionan en gran porcentaje únicamente con los elementos de participación ciudadana. Es importante contar con un mecanismo (índice) de captura de este tipo de actividades, el cual pueda ser, una vez construido, revisado y ajustado por la comunidad, un elemento para generar una línea base de información en cuanto a este tipo de actividades realizadas por las diferentes personas, las cuales son importantes para el desarrollo de la sociedad, ya que es el (agente – individuo), el elemento básico de cambio del territorio y la sociedad. Se concluyó que es necesario establecer, una ruta inicial para el establecimiento de un I.D.C. que soporte conceptualmente el establecimiento o construcción de un índice que capture en cada individuo - habitante de una sociedad, su nivel de responsabilidad, aporte y colaboración en pro del mejoramiento de la misma.  Â
Abstract One of the most broadly investigated topics in the conceptual metaphor literature is the importance of spatial construals for thinking and talking about time. We address the relationship between conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) and conceptual integration theory (CIT) by exploring how people understand timelines - both as graphical objects, in discourse about timelines taken from newspapers and the web, and in poetic examples. The inferential structure of the timeline is well captured by the conceptual metaphors TIME IS SPACE and EVENTS ARE OBJECTS. Instantiated graphically, the timeline serves as a material anchor for a conceptual integration network representing partial cognitive models of time, lines, objects, and a hybrid model known as a 'blend'. Understood in respect to this network, the analogue properties of the line give it novel computational properties facilitating inferences about the events that the timeline represents. The history of the modern timeline suggests that it reflects a distributed cognitive process, involving multiple individuals over a large span of time and illustrating the importance of cultural evolution in the development of conceptual integration networks. Analysis of both poetry and everyday discourse about timelines suggests that conventional mapping schemas are best viewed not as determining the interpretation of timelines but as providing soft constraints that help guide interpretation. Future metaphor research will best proceed via a merger of techniques from CMT and CIT, characterizing metaphor as involving complex networks of mappings that can be updated flexibly as a function of context and goals.
