The Philosopher
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| Discipline | Philosophy |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publication details | |
| History | 1923–present |
| Publisher | Bigg Books (United Kingdom) |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Standard abbreviations | |
| ISO 4 | Philosopher |
The Philosopher is a peer-reviewed journal 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 is the official journal of The Philosophical Society of England (PSE), a charitable organization founded ten years earlier in 1913. The Society exists '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.[1] 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. Following the centenary of the Philosophical Society of England, internal arguments led in 2014 to the resignation of its Chair and the end of the PSE as a national organisation, governed by a rulebook. The establishment as of 2018, of a rival Newcastle-based journal, also called The Philosopher edited by Newcastle upon Tyne-based philosopher Anthony Morgan, published quarterly by Bigg Books a small publisher also created and owned by Anthony Morgan was done without any formal agreement as the PSE no longer is quorate and holds no meetings [2]. The Philosophical Society has not met since 2015.
Notable articles
Historically interesting or notable articles include:
- G. K. Chesterton on "The Need for a Philosophy", Volume 1, 1923
- "Individual Psychology and Education", by John Dewey, Volume XII, 1934
- Erwin Schrödinger on "Science, Art and Play", Volume XIII 1935
- Moritz Schlick on "Unanswerable Questions", Volume XIII, 1935
Editors
The editors-in-chief of the journal are:[3]
- 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
- 1989–2011: Keith Dowling, Michael Bavidge, Martin Cohen
- 2011-2018: Michael Bavidge
- 2018-: Anthony Morgan