BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.0.1//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:548@ub.edu DTSTART:20180418T130000Z DTEND:20180418T150000Z DTSTAMP:20250915T195257Z URL:https://www.ub.edu/grc_logos/activities/amelioration-vs-perversion/ SUMMARY:Amelioration vs. Perversion DESCRIPTION:Words change meaning\, usually in unpredictable ways. But some words'\; meanings are revised intentionally. Revisionary projects are n ormally put forward in the service of some purpose - some serve specific g oals of inquiry\, and others serve ethical\, political or social aims. Rev isionist projects can ameliorate meanings\, but they can also pervert. In this paper\, I want to: (i) draw attention to the dangers of meaning perve rsions\; (ii) argue that the self-declared goodness of a revisionist proje ct doesn'\;t suffice to put forward a viable new meaning. I'\;ll bri efly consider whether power or authority play a role in viable revisions\; (iii) show that the self-declared goodness of a revisionist project doesn '\;t suffice to avoid meaning perversions. The road to Hell\, or to hor rors on Earth\, is paved with good intentions. (iv) I will then point to p roblems for ameliorative conceptual engineering projects. Finally and more importantly\, (v)\, I want to demarcate what meaning perversions are\, an d offer a working hypothesis about how they contribute to "\;destroy f acts of shared reality"\;. I will consider how dogwhistles and code wo rds contribute to corrode social norms\, and what lessons we can draw for meaning perversions more generally from these cases. CATEGORIES:Seminar LOCATION:Seminari de Filosofia UB X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=C. Montalegre\, 6-8\, Barce lona\, 08001\, Spain;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Seminari de Filosofia UB:g eo:0,0 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR