Conceptual Engineering and Socially Disruptive Technologies

Call for Registration: Workshop “Conceptual Engineering and Socially Disruptive Technologies” 31 March – 1 April 2022, online (Zoom), 1:15-5:30 pm (CET)  

THEME Despite its “engineering” metaphor, little work on conceptual engineering has focused on the role of technology in conceptual change and conceptual disruption. In the philosophy of technology, by contrast, increasing attention is given to the ways in which socially disruptive technologies challenge fundamental ethical and ontological concepts. This workshop brings together researchers from both fields to explore the intersections between technology and conceptual engineering.   

INVITED SPEAKERS Rachel Sterken (University of Hong Kong): The Alignment Problem in Human-AI Communication Amie Thomasson (Dartmouth College): Pragmatic Methods to Engineer Concepts and Technologies  

Contributed talks:  

• Contextually Sensitive Concepts: Can we engineer Concepts that last?: Björn Lundgren 
• Conceptual Engineering and Technology: Between Amelioration, Adaptation and Disruption: Guido Löhr & Jeroen Hopster 
• The Disruptive Potential of the Artificial Womb: Lily Frank, Julia Hermann, Naomi Jacobs 
• Humanoids: Changing Human Ways of Grouping: Valeria Martino
• Agents as impactful entities: redesigning a technologically disrupted concept: Klaudia Klonowska, Sadjad Soltanzadeh
• Disruption of what, where, and by whom? On the Disruption of Nature through Technology: Ben Hofbauer 
• Pragmatic Methods to Engineer Concepts and Technologies: Irene Olivero 
• Engineering Privacy: How Surveillance Capitalists Changed Our Understanding of Technology, Privacy, and Oversight: Aleksandra Samonek

If you would like to attend, please send an email with your affiliation to [email protected]. 

All the best, 

Guido Löhr, Eindhoven University of Technology Jeroen Hopster, University of Twente   The organisers are members of the interuniversity research programme Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies (ESDiT). 

To learn more about the ESDiT-project, please visit https://www.esdit.nl/ or listen to our podcast channel: www.esdit.nl/podcasts, @esdit_nl (Twitter)