What Is a Concept, Really?

What exactly is a concept—and what does it actually do?

Are concepts neutral descriptions of reality… or are they more like tools, lenses, or even machines that shape how we see, think, and act?

In this session, we’ll play with ideas from Gilles Deleuze, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Michel Foucault to explore concepts not as eternal truths, but as working parts—useful, breakable, and improvable.

We’ll ask questions like:

• Do concepts discover meaning, or quietly manufacture it?
• When does a concept stop clarifying and start getting in the way?
• Can we design better concepts—or at least stop using the broken ones?

Join us for a lively, theory-forward conversation for people who enjoy taking ideas apart and seeing how they work.