I’m pleased to announce that I’ve joined the newly-formed Editorial Board of Philosophy & Public Affairs, “the highly regarded philosophy journal whose future was put in doubt when all of its editors and editorial board resigned en masse this past spring to form a new journal.” (Daily Nous). The new editorial team consists of:
Editor-in-Chief: Jason Brennan (McDonough School of Business, Georgetown)
Associate Editor: Christopher Freiman (Chambers College of Business, West Virginia University), David Lefkowitz (University of Richmond)
Editorial Board: Cristina Bicchieri (University of Pennsylvania) Emanuela Ceva (University of Geneva), Daniel Jacobson (University of Colorado), Matthew Kramer (Cambridge University), Kimberly Krawiec (University of Virginia School of Law), Jeffrey Moriarty (Bentley University), Christopher Heath Wellman (Washington University in St. Louis).
Given the circumstances of the prior board’s resignation, the new mission statement is worth sharing here:
Philosophy & Public Affairs publishes the best philosophical work that engages with matters of public concern. Since 1972, Philosophy & Public Affairs has published pathbreaking scholarship that has reshaped philosophical debates for decades to come. Continuing this tradition, the journal seeks papers that are bold, daring, and risk-taking. Philosophy & Public Affairs prizes papers that seek to change paradigms over papers that make minor moves in long debates. It seeks to avoid esoteric and scholastic papers in favor of accessible and engaging papers about topics that matter to non-specialists.
The journal welcomes submissions from philosophers, legal scholars, political scientists, economists, and sociologists. It welcomes papers on problems requiring empirical or legal analysis, provided those papers also rigorously defend a normative position.
All papers submitted to Philosophy & Public Affairs are blinded to editors. Papers that pass initial inspection undergo triple-blind review. The journal values viewpoint and ideological diversity; no preference will be given to papers that affirm editors’ political or moral commitments. The journal aims to provide a forum in which researchers with different perspectives can bring their distinctive methods to bear on problems that concern everyone.
The editorial staff retains complete autonomy from Wiley in determining which and how many papers to publish. Commercial considerations have no bearing on the decisions of the editorial staff. This editorial autonomy is protected by contract.
The decision will be seen as controversial by many, given that the prior editors have said they resigned over pressure from Wiley to publish, for commercial reasons, more articles than the editors believed passed their quality standards. One of those former members published a long statement of the events over at Crooked Timber, which you should read in full. EIC, Jason Brennan, responds to some of that criticism here.
There is more coverage at Daily Nous, Crooked Timber, and Leiter Reports.
Comments