TY - CHAP

T1 - Are We Discovering or Making Concepts? Performativity in Concept Defining

AU - Niemimaa, Marko

AU - Zimmer, Markus Philipp

PY - 2022/7

Y1 - 2022/7

N2 - Alongside the emergence of new technologies and management trends, new concepts such as Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity appear. Once introduced, scholars debate these concepts’ definitions. Often, a uniform definition remains elusive in these debates but several different - sometimes conflicting - definitions result. In this short paper, we take a philosophical perspective to concept defining and ask why is it that we end up in these situations where a plurality of definitions exists? We outline two perspectives to concept defining: 1) concept-discovery; and 2) concept-making. We argue that concept defining is largely ill-conceived as an activity of concept-discovery according to which concepts are mirrors of the outside world. In contrast, we argue that viewing concept defining as an act of concept-making will sensitize IS researchers on the practices and processes which make concepts and their ethical as well as political implications.

AB - Alongside the emergence of new technologies and management trends, new concepts such as Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity appear. Once introduced, scholars debate these concepts’ definitions. Often, a uniform definition remains elusive in these debates but several different - sometimes conflicting - definitions result. In this short paper, we take a philosophical perspective to concept defining and ask why is it that we end up in these situations where a plurality of definitions exists? We outline two perspectives to concept defining: 1) concept-discovery; and 2) concept-making. We argue that concept defining is largely ill-conceived as an activity of concept-discovery according to which concepts are mirrors of the outside world. In contrast, we argue that viewing concept defining as an act of concept-making will sensitize IS researchers on the practices and processes which make concepts and their ethical as well as political implications.

KW - Business informatics

KW - IS philosophy

KW - concepts

KW - definitions

KW - Agential realism

KW - performativity

KW - representationalism

KW - digital transformation

KW - cybersecurity

KW - artificial intelligence

UR - https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2022/97/

UR - https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2022/

M3 - Article in conference proceedings

BT - PACIS 2022 proceedings

PB - AIS eLibrary

T2 - Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems - PACIS 2022

Y2 - 5 July 2022 through 9 July 2022

ER -