Although asymmetrical concepts have been well-known and extensively researched in psychology (Jean Piaget), linguistics (Karl Bühler) and even geometry (Max Jammer), their role in social mapping of the world has never been an object of detailed research. 35 years ago Reinhart Koselleck sketched out the historical semantics of the oppositions 'Hellenes'/ 'barbarians', 'Christians' / 'pagans' and 'Übermensch' / 'Untermensch', but his success was mostly developed in the new disciplines (such as Critical Linguistics or Security studies), whereas in the traditional domains of history and sociology Koselleck's ideas were eagrely cited but rarely developed (Niklas Luhmann being the notable exception). The planned conference intends to remedy this situation by attracting scholars working in such diverse domains of social sciences and humanities as history, sociology, literary criticism, linguistics, political science and international studies. This joint effort is aimed at demonstrating the crucial role of asymmetrical concepts in social life across continents and historical epochs.

The following questions, among others, are to be addressed:

How asymmetrical concepts shape individual or group identities?

What are the preferred logical forms of asymmetrical concepts? How are they articulated in discourse and what pragmatic presuppositions do they imply?

How semantics and pragmatics of asymmetrical concepts is related to the various political (democracy, authoritarianism) and economical (autarky, free-market) systems?

What is the relation between asymmetrical concepts and the normative spheres of human coexistence presupposing unanimity (i.e. symmetry) of interpretation – such as law, morals or institutions?