Introduction

In this issue we propose, therefore, a cognitive and philosophical analysis of stereotypes and of the relationship between stereotypes and categorization to de ne the role played by stereotypes in our everyday thought as well as in specific disciplines involving categories and categorization processes, such as philosophy, philosophy of language, history and philosophy of sciences, social and gender studies, politics, linguistics, and sciences in general. To conduct this analysis, we have collected papers dealing with the general topic of stereotypes from a cognitive and philosophical perspective, or with stereotypes in specific fields of present-day research. Our main aim has been to highlight the presence of stereotypes, to analyze them and to show how they manipulate us and, at the same time, how we can manipulate them to understand reality without allowing stereotypes to be imposed upon our cognitive processes.