For the evolution of a mathematical conception you might look at Imre Lakatos, Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical Discovery.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proofs_and_Refutations
• http://en.bookfi.net/s/?q=Imre+Lakatos%2C+Proofs+and+Refutations%3A+The+Logic+of+Mathematical+Discovery&t=0

I wonder if what you are proposing is not what Michel Foucault does in his texts. That is, the genealogical movement of certain concepts in history. One of Foucault's main objectives was to formulate an archaeological method which broke with positivist correspondence theory and the idea of deeper meaning linked with hermeneutics. Archaeology encompassed a description or uncovering of the unconscious ideas and thoughts he labelled epistemés. Maybe this article will shed some more light on what you want to do. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473957633.n11

Thank you very much for your comment, Campo Elías Flórez Pabón. As a matter of fact, I've recently started looking into Foucault's work (especially Les Mots et les Choses and L'Archéologie du savoir), but I'm not sure that it offers what I need. Foucault's hermeneutic approach seems almost psychoanalytical, with references to "unconscious ideas", whereas what I'm trying to do is more humble, more technical, more ground-level, I suppose... But I will gladly read the chapter you kindly sent me. Thank you again!

Etienne Lehoux-Jobin I almost never find the word humility in the answers, I liked it very much, and I am glad that you consider the reading of M. F., however I do not want you to go on the hermeneutic side which is very interesting but on the archeological side of the ideas. Hermeneutics is psychiatric, but archaeological reference is how these ideas are born, how they are implanted in society and, to a certain extent, how they are taken up again in modernity. Nevertheless, I understand, your observation of something more real and humble, and I would propose Algirdas Greimas and his model of narrative semiotics, since he wants to work categories. I'll keep looking, and if I find something I'll let you know.

Thank you very much for your help, Campo Elías Flórez Pabón! I read the text you sent me. Foucault's work seems to be more concerned with "épistémè" that define entire civilizations over long periods time, whereas I'm interested in a specific concept, within a specific discipline. Still, while the focus is indeed quite different, there certainly are interesting ideas to be found in Foucault's work. And I'll have a look at Greimas too. Thank you again!

Dear Etienne Lehoux-Jobin,

Here are some examples of what you are asking for:

Article Research in Psychiatry: Concepts and Conceptual Analysis

Article Epistemology of Mental Symptoms

These papers address psychiatry concepts but you can find in the references great general approaches and methods "to study the history/evolution/conception of a given concept/term/label/topic".

Hope your find them interesting.

All the best.

For the evolution of a mathematical conception you might look at Imre Lakatos, Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical Discovery.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proofs_and_Refutations
• http://en.bookfi.net/s/?q=Imre+Lakatos%2C+Proofs+and+Refutations%3A+The+Logic+of+Mathematical+Discovery&t=0

Emile Meyerson's study of scientific developments from their inception in atomism to their developments in relativity physics and quantum mechanics suggest that all scientific inductions are characterized by two a priori principles of reason, namely legality and causality. The first says that nature attends herself with regularity while the second explains that regularity is based on an ontological structure. See my article on Meyerson in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy for references to Meyerson's work.

Luis A. Centeno-Gándara, thank you very much! I will have a look at the papers you kindly suggested.

Karl Pfeifer, thank you very much! Lakatos sure is a good place to start.

Ken A. Bryson , thank you very much. I didn't know of Emile Meyerson, but I will have a look at his work.

Daniel Maille, no, not at all. I don't know what's wrong with you. I'm not "playing games", there's no "debate" here; you're really looking too hard. I'm just searching for answers in connection with my PhD thesis. If you deem the question irrelevant or "too vague", that's one thing and that's your right, but I don't understand why you took the time to come here and to leave an answer that isn't actually one. I see from your profile that you conduct research in the field of philosophy. Well, I could certainly use some help from researchers in philosophy. So far, I haven't really found a theoretical/methodological framework that would allow me to do what I'm trying to do. So, if you have anything positive to contribute, I'd be very happy to hear from you. Otherwise, please don't waste both of our time.

Leaving aside theoretical questions (have you looked at Raymond William's Keywords, its a long time since I read it but the existence of the book seems itself a statement on this problem) from a purely practical point of view I have found modern databases to be invaluable tools for tracing the development of a particular terminology. Ultimately its as much about the leg work of simply tracking down when people first started to use a term - and what they meant by it - as it applying theoretical tools. The phrase 'the end of history' is a fascinating example of this. You can run it down fairly quickly and see how it shifted from meaning the purpose the study of history serves in the nineteenth century to its more existential overtone under the treat of nuclear annihilation.

what is your PhD thesis about?