Philosophy Now

Philosophy Now
source
Title	Philosophy Now
Frequency	Bimonthly
Category	Philosophy magazine
Firstdate	1991
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Philosophy Now is a bimonthly popular philosophy magazine founded in 1991 that aims to make philosophical ideas accessible to a general readership. It has sought to bridge academic philosophy and public intellectual life by publishing articles, interviews, reviews, and features that engage with historical figures and contemporary thinkers. The magazine has featured discussions of figures ranging from Plato and Aristotle to Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Simone de Beauvoir, Michel Foucault, and Hannah Arendt.

History

The magazine was established in 1991 amid renewed public interest in intellectual magazines such as The New Statesman, The Spectator, and New Humanist. Its founding responded to debates influenced by recent publications like The History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault and accessible treatments of analytic thinkers such as Bertrand Russell and A. J. Ayer. Early issues placed emphasis on figures including René Descartes, David Hume, Thomas Hobbes, G. E. Moore, and Gilbert Ryle, while engaging with events such as the post-Cold War reconfiguration after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Over subsequent decades the magazine has tracked developments in continental and analytic traditions, publishing pieces on Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Saul Kripke, and John Rawls.

Editorial Profile and Contributors

The editorial stance combines accessible exposition with occasional scholarly depth, aiming to serve readers interested in Stanley Cavell-style public philosophy as well as students encountering authors like Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, Baruch Spinoza, and G.W.F. Hegel. Regular contributors have included academics and public intellectuals who have worked on topics linked to Noam Chomsky, Daniel Dennett, Thomas Nagel, Peter Singer, and Cornel West. The magazine has also published interviews and guest essays featuring figures associated with institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Princeton University, and University of Chicago. Editors and advisory board members have had connections to scholarly communities around journals like Mind, The Philosophical Review, and Analysis.

Content and Themes

Articles span history of philosophy, ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and aesthetics. Coverage ranges from ancient debates involving Socrates and Epicurus to modern problems articulated by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, John Locke, and George Berkeley. Ethical discussions have often engaged with utilitarian perspectives of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill alongside deontological themes traced to Immanuel Kant and rights-analytic work influenced by Robert Nozick. Political and social pieces have addressed theories associated with Karl Marx, Alexis de Tocqueville, Isaiah Berlin, and contemporary theorists like Jürgen Habermas and Charles Taylor. Philosophy of mind and cognitive science material connects to research by Francis Crick, Antonio Damasio, Patricia Churchland, and David Chalmers, while language and logic pieces reference work by Gottlob Frege, Saul Kripke, and W.V.O. Quine. The magazine also reviews books by authors tied to major presses like Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Routledge.

Publication and Distribution

Published on a bimonthly schedule, the magazine is produced in the United Kingdom and distributed in print and digital formats. Its circulation strategies have included subscriptions, sales through independent bookshops associated with networks like Waterstones and Foyles, and availability at academic conference venues such as meetings held by the British Philosophical Association and the American Philosophical Association. Back issues and special themed editions have been organized around topics linked to anniversaries of works like Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant and Being and Time by Martin Heidegger. The editorial operation has coordinated with printers and distributors that service magazines in the UK and international markets, including North American outlets and European academic bookstores.

Reception and Influence

Reception has been mixed to favorable across readerships: educators and students often praise the magazine’s clarity when treating thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Nietzsche, while some professional philosophers debate its balance between accessibility and scholarly rigor. The magazine has been cited in syllabi at institutions including King’s College London, University College London, Columbia University, and Yale University for introductory materials that accompany texts by Thomas Nagel, Martha Nussbaum, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Philippa Foot. Its interviews and roundtables have amplified public conversations involving figures associated with cultural institutions such as the British Library and events like the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Awards and Recognition

Over time the magazine and its contributors have received recognition from literary and educational bodies; contributors’ essays have been shortlisted for prizes connected to organizations like the Royal Society of Literature and academic awards honoring work on figures such as David Hume and John Locke. The magazine’s profile has also been acknowledged by community groups promoting public understanding of philosophy, including societies named for Socrates and local philosophy cafés inspired by the Socratic method.

Category:Philosophy magazines Category:Magazines published in the United Kingdom