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Politics, Words, and Concepts: On the Impossibility and Undesirability of ‘Amelioration’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2024

Louise Antony
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Abstract

Recently, several philosophers have argued that there is a political necessity to alter certain important concepts, such as WOMAN, in order to give us better tools to understand and change oppressive conditions. I argue that conceptual change of this sort is impossible. But I also argue that it is politically unnecessary – we can effect progressive change using the same old concepts we've always had.

Type
Paper
Information
Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements , Volume 95: Words and Worlds: New Directions in the Philosophy of Language , May 2024 , pp. 47 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy and the contributors 2024

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