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

Philosophical Society of England The Philosophical Society of England (PSE) was founded in 1913 by a group of largely amateur 'philosophers' concerned to provide an alternative to the formal university-based discipline. The society has passed through a series of changes in direct ...

. 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 ceased to exist in 2014 although 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 a print only edition originally led by Michael Bavidge. Both publications claim to be direct continuations of The Philosopher prior to the split.

Online Edition

The 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 edition prints articles on a wide range of philosophical topics and book reviews. Recent notable contributors to the online edition include

Mel Thompson Mel Thompson may refer to: * Mel Thompson (writer), English writer and philosopher * Mel Thompson (basketball), American college basketball player and coach See also * Mel Thomson, microbiologist and science communicator * Meldrim Thomson Jr. Meld ...

, and

Urmila Bhoola Urmila Bhoola is a South African international human rights lawyer who has worked on human rights, labour rights, women's rights, child protection, human trafficking, forced labour and ending modern slavery in South Africa, Malaysia, Fiji and t ...

Print Edition

The print 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 to the print edition include

Kathleen Stock Kathleen Mary Linn Stock is a British philosopher and writer. She was a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex until 2021. She has published academic work on aesthetics, fiction, imagination, sexual objectification, and sexual ori ...

, Mary Midgley,

Timothy Williamson Timothy Williamson (born 1955) is a British philosopher whose main research interests are in philosophical logic, philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics. He is the Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford, and fell ...

Jason Stanley Jason Stanley (born 1969) is an American philosopher who is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is best known for his contributions to philosophy of language and epistemology, which often draw upon and influence other ...

, Linda Martín Alcoff.

Notable articles

Historically interesting or notable articles that were identified and recovered by Martin Cohen for the online edition include: *

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

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 educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...

, Volume XII, 1934 * Erwin Schrödinger o
"Science, Art and Play"
Volume XIII 1935 * Moritz Schlick on "Unanswerable Questions", Volume XIII, 1935

Editors

The editors-in-chief of the journal are: * 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 edition) * 2013-2018: Michael Bavidge (for the print edition) * 2018–present: Anthony Morgan (for the print 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 Publications established in 1923 Philosophy journals English-language journals Academic journals published by learned and professional societies Quarterly journals