 A central problem in the ontology of race, gender, and other categories is that how we categorize not only has ethical implications, but is affected by ethically-laden facts. Some theorists challenge the idea of a purely descriptive analysis of such groups. Others propose that there can be descriptive analyses, but that such analyses are a stepping stone to ethically preferable categories. Haslanger (2000, 2012) in particular has argued for the “ameliorative” analysis of racial and gender categories. Part of the role of social ontology is to analyze the concepts and categories that are “operative” in a social system, but an equally important aim is to explore how we might otherwise construct social categories with the aim of social improvement. Barnes (2016) argues for an ameliorative account of disability (see entry on  disability: definitions, models, experience).