Project description
Understanding conceptual disagreements
In today’s polarised world, debates swirl around questions that are not just about facts, but about how we define things: What counts as terrorism? Who qualifies as a refugee? Are trans women women? These conceptual disagreements are hard to resolve because they hinge on deeply held beliefs, values, and power dynamics, not just evidence. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ConTension project will create a new framework to manage these clashes. By mapping out networks of commitments and reasons behind different views, ConTension will clarify where disagreements come from and how group interests influence them. Its goal is to offer practical tools to handle politically charged debates when consensus is out of reach.
Objective
Conceptual disagreements are ubiquitous in social and political debates: What kind of act counts as terrorism? When is someone a refugee or an economic migrant? Are trans women women? Managing such disagreements is both urgent and practically impactful. Yet, they pose important epistemological and practical challenges. Unlike factual disagreements, we cannot simply appeal to empirical evidence to settle these questions. Instead, conceptual disagreements often involve networks of commitments, beliefs, and principles regarding the role of conceptualizations, what purposes they should serve, and who has the authority to decide what they should be. This makes it particularly difficult to exchange reasons when much of the common ground is lacking, which is often the case for politically charged concepts. The overall aim of the ConTension project is to provide a unified, practically-oriented and empirically-grounded framework that helps us understand and manage real-life conceptual disagreements. It pursues three key objectives: (1) Identifying the object and nature of conceptual disagreement, by building a model of commitment networks (beliefs, default inferences, evaluation principles, interests) inspired by inferentialism; (2) Determining the structure and hierarchy of norms in conceptual evaluation, by transposing the model of commitment networks into a network of reasons; (3) Assessing the legitimate and illegitimate role played by competing group interests in disagreement over politically charged concepts, and providing solutions for managing them when consensus is unattainable. ConTension is both a response to the recent surge of interest in questions of conceptual choice and conceptual revision within philosophy, and an innovative take on the conceptual nature of some of today’s most urgent debates and societal challenges. The outcomes of the project are intended to be relevant to philosophers, scientists, policymakers, and citizens alike.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy epistemology
- social sciences political sciences political transitions terrorism
- social sciences sociology demography human migrations
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1081 HV Amsterdam
Netherlands
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