''The Philosopher'' is a long-running periodical, established in 1923 by the

Philosophical Society of England Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. Originally in print format, following a split in the mid-2010s the publication now exists in two competing formats.

History

''The Philosopher'' is a long-running periodical that was established in 1923 in order to provide a forum for new ideas across the entire range of philosophical topics, in the clearest and plainest language. Its first issue quoted A.S. Rappoport in ''A Primer of Philosophy'' (1904) that:

There is a prevalent notion that philosophy is a pursuit to be followed only by expert thinkers on abstract subjects, that it deals with the pale ghosts of conceptions whose domain is abstract thought, but which have no application to real life. This is a mistake... Man sees the various phenomena of life and nature, forms conceptions and ideas, and then tries to reason and to find out the relation existing between these various facts and phenomena... When man acts in this way we say he philosophises.

''The Philosopher'' was the official publication of the

, a charitable organization founded ten years earlier in 1913. The society existed "to promote the study of practical philosophy among the general public", to bring together professional philosophers and non-professionals, to bring philosophical ideas and problems to the public attention, and to encourage wider discussion of both traditional and topical philosophical issues. As part of fulfilling these functions, the society founded ''The Philosopher'' as its own journal in addition to running local groups, lectures, workshops, and conferences. The Society, in its original form, ceased to exist in 2014, although its chairman at the time, Michael Bavidge, claimed both its name and assets for his own local group of the society, the 'Newcastle Group'. A series of arguments internal to the Philosophical Society of England in 2014, lead to the publication being split into two formats; an online-only edition, led by long-term editor Martin Cohen, and an initially print-only but soon print-and-online edition, originally led by PSE chair Michael Bavidge. Both publications claim to be direct continuations of ''The Philosopher'' prior to the split.

Online-Only Edition

The purely online edition of ''The Philosopher'' describes itself as "a forum for short, original, brilliant and accessible articles". Articles are edited for clarity by the editorial team, with a focus on making content "clear to the interested reader". The online-only edition publishes articles on a wide range of philosophical topics, as well as book reviews. Recent notable contributors to the online edition include Mel Thompson and Urmila Bhoola.

Print and Online Edition

The print and online edition of ''The Philosopher'' describes itself as a "forum for cutting-edge philosophical discussions to take place, prioritizing exciting up-and-coming thinkers as much as well-established leading figures." The publication is written for the general non-academic public, with a focus on accessibility. Topics range from core philosophical problems to discussions of current social and political issues. Recent contributors include Kathleen Stock,

Mary Midgley Mary Beatrice Midgley (' Scrutton; 13 September 1919 – 10 October 2018) was a British philosopher. A senior lecturer in philosophy at Newcastle University, she was known for her work on science, ethics and animal rights. She wrote her first b ...

, Timothy Williamson, Jason Stanley,

Linda Martín Alcoff Linda Martín Alcoff is a Panamanian American philosopher and professor of philosophy at Hunter College, City University of New York. Alcoff specializes in social epistemology, feminist philosophy, philosophy of race, decolonial theory and c ...

, Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò (whose article in the 2020 print edition helped bring his work to wide attention), Martin Hägglund,

Michael Della Rocca Michael Della Rocca (born 1962) is Sterling Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and a specialist in early modern philosophy, especially Spinoza, and in metaphysics. Education and career Della Rocca earned his B.A. at Harvard University ...

, Steven Nadler, Dan Zahavi, Todd McGowan, Serene Khader, Fay Bound Alberti, Brooke Holmes, Catherine Wilson,

Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. ...

, Frederick Neuhouser and Lea Ypi.

Notable articles

Historically interesting or notable articles that were identified and recovered by Martin Cohen for the online edition include: * G. K. Chesterton on "The Need for a Philosophy", Volume 1, 1923 *
Individual Psychology and Education
, by

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

, Volume XII, 1934 *

Erwin Schrödinger Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger ( ; ; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as or , was an Austrian-Irish theoretical physicist who developed fundamental results in quantum field theory, quantum theory. In particul ...

o
"Science, Art and Play"
Volume XIII 1935 *

Moritz Schlick Friedrich Albert Moritz Schlick (; ; 14 April 1882 – 22 June 1936) was a German philosopher, physicist, and the founding father of logical positivism and the Vienna Circle. He was murdered by a former student, Johann Nelböck, in 1936. Early ...

on "Unanswerable Questions", Volume XIII, 1935

Editors

The

editors-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the journal have been: * 1923–1948: Ada Sheridan, W. H. S. Dumphreys, Thomas Greenwood * 1949–1972: C. S. Flick, Victor Rienaecker, A. J. Sinclair-Burton * 1973–1988: George Colbran, Alan Holloway, Geoffrey Brown * 1989–2013: Keith Dowling, Michael Bavidge, Martin Cohen * 2013–present: Martin Cohen (for the online-only edition) * 2013-2018: Michael Bavidge (for the print-and-online edition) * 2018–present: Anthony Morgan (for the print-and-online edition)

References

External links

* Online Edition Website: http://www.the-philosopher.co.uk * Print Edition Website: https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/ * The Philosophical Society of England Website: http://www.philsoceng.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Philosopher, The Academic journals established in 1923 Philosophy journals English-language journals Academic journals published by learned and professional societies Quarterly journals