Dartmouth Events

Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Takaaki Matsui, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Hitotsubashi University

Talk Title:  "Inferentialism, Conceptual Engineering, and Path-Dependence of Topic Continuity"

Abstract:  In recent years, the problem of topic continuity has been extensively discussed due to the growing interest in conceptual engineering and conceptual ethics.  The problem of topic continuity concerns the question of how and to what extent a concept can be changed while preserving its subject matter.  While this problem was also widely discussed in the 1960s and 1970s, the recent literature tends to mention exclusively on Strawson and Carnap and ignore other theorists from this period.  In this talk, I bring Wilfrid Sellars into conversation with contemporary discussions on topic continuity.  This has two main upshots.  First, while doubts have been raised about whether inferentialists can adequately account for topic continuity, Sellars provides an inferentialist way to explain topic continuity.  Second, and more importantly, it follows from Sellars's account that topic continuity is path-dependent.

12:15pm - 2:00pm
Rockefeller 1930s Room

Please contact the Philosophy department with your interest to attend: philosophy@dartmouth.edu

The Sapientia Lecture Series is underwritten by the Mark J. Byrne 1985 Fund in Philosophy. For details on other lectures within the series, please visit: https://philosophy.dartmouth.edu/news-events/sapientia-lecture-series