1/9 The Conceptual Engineering of 'WOMAN'

A recent field of research in philosophy is 'conceptual engineering' (CE): making a concept (a word) more precise/accurate/appropriate. This idea has been taken up by feminist philosophers. They have re-engineered the concept 'woman'.

1/2 It is not just about what a word means, it's also about what a word SHOULD mean. This kind of CE has a moral/political aim - here: to minimise the exclusion of trans people in society. This is a worthy aim, but I doubt that you can achieve it by changing the meaning of words.

1/3 A central concept in feminist philosophy is ‘woman’. Ordinarily it means ‘adult human female’, but some feminists would like to include ‘transwomen’ in the extension of the term ‘woman’. This would ameliorate the effects (exclusion) of the common understanding of 'woman'.

1/4 But the trans-friendly feminists have overlooked that their tinkering with concept fails women. It doesn’t consider how such engineering infringes the rights of women and it doesn’t consider the ripple effects this will have on other concepts ('lesbian').

1/5 The law is a much better – and proven – driving force for change in society. Think of the abolition of slavery, rights for women, the de-criminalisation of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, etc.

1/6 Admittedly, the law is often slow to recognise (the necessity for) societal change, but good things take time and deliberation. If done well, the law recognises important distinctions, like the exemptions in the UK Equality Act, which allow for the exclusion of transwomen.

1/7 As a little playful exercise, let me try a bit of conceptual re-engineering myself: a ‘transman’ is a biological male who is transitioning (or has transitioned) to being a woman, either in appearance and/or self-identifying as such.

1/8 The converse would apply to the term ‘transwoman’. A ‘transman’ would then fall within the extension of ‘man’, and a ‘transwoman’ would come within the extension of ‘woman’. The advantage of my re-conceptualisation is that it is more coherent and...

1/9 ...it is less likely to cause cognitive dissonance. But, most importantly, my terms don’t cause the kind of ripple effects which would stretch related concepts to breaking point (like 'lesbian' or the invention of the 'lady-dick', etc.). Happy engineering all!