Conceptual economics Contra conceptual engineering

We are invited to picture conceptual improvement as a kind of engineering. Extract the concept, repair what is defective, and return it to use. But the picture requires a background assumption that is rarely examined: that concepts can step outside the practices that give them life. I deny that assumption. Concepts are social phenomena sustained through ongoing labour: created, reproduced, contested, and policed within what I call conceptual economies. Once recognised, the engineering image loses its grip. There is no standpoint external to the economy from which design can occur, and the much-discussed implementation challenge is a misdescription of how conceptual change unfolds. Conceptual improvement is better understood as a mode of participation within a labour system. This offers a more realistic account of what philosophers are doing when revising our concepts.