The Philosophical Quarterly

The Philosophical Quarterly
Title	The Philosophical Quarterly
Discipline	Philosophy
Abbreviation	Phil. Q.
Publisher	Oxford Academic
Country	United Kingdom
History	1950–present
Frequency	Quarterly
Issn	0031-8094

The Philosophical Quarterly is a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing articles in analytic philosophy, moral philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and political philosophy. Founded in 1950, it has featured contributions from eminent figures in philosophy and engaged with debates involving institutions such as University of Oxford, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Cambridge, and University of Chicago. The journal occupies a prominent place alongside periodicals like Mind (journal), The Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Review, Noûs, and Ethics (journal).

History

The journal was established in 1950 during a period marked by intellectual activity at King's College London, University College London, University of Edinburgh, and University of Glasgow. Early decades saw interactions with movements and figures associated with logical positivism, the Vienna Circle, Ordinary Language Philosophy, and later analytic philosophy currents exemplified by scholars connected to Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, A. J. Ayer, and Gilbert Ryle. Its editorial offices and institutional sponsors have included links to Oxford University Press and scholarly societies such as the Mind Association. Over time the journal published work that engaged with debates influenced by texts like Principia Mathematica, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, and Language, Truth and Logic, and by thinkers ranging from David Hume and Immanuel Kant to contemporary figures such as Saul Kripke, David Lewis, Willard Van Orman Quine, Donald Davidson, and John Rawls.

Scope and Editorial Policy

The journal's scope covers analytic and Anglo-American traditions with attention to topics addressed by scholars affiliated with Princeton Theological Seminary-adjacent thinkers, continental intersections with figures in the orbit of Simone de Beauvoir and Maurice Merleau-Ponty where they inform analytic debates, and interdisciplinary work linking to institutions like MIT, Stanford University, Columbia University, Yale University, and New York University. Its editorial policy emphasizes original argumentation, clarity of exposition, critical engagement with literature including work by Hilary Putnam, Martha Nussbaum, Judith Jarvis Thomson, Philippa Foot, and Peter Singer, and methodological rigor comparable to standards at Royal Society-affiliated journals. The journal accepts submissions that dialog with classic texts such as A Theory of Justice and contemporary scholarship appearing in venues like Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society.

Publication and Format

Published quarterly, the journal issues regular articles, critical discussion pieces, review essays, and occasional symposia connected to conferences at Association for Symbolic Logic meetings, American Philosophical Association conferences, and symposia hosted by the British Academy. Articles typically include an abstract, argument sections, and critical engagement with work by philosophers such as Thomas Nagel, Philippa Foot, G. A. Cohen, Michael Dummett, and Christine Korsgaard. The format has evolved from print runs distributed by publishers such as Blackwell Publishing and Oxford University Press to digital editions accessible through institutional platforms used by libraries at Library of Congress, Bodleian Libraries, and national libraries in Canada, Australia, and Germany.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is indexed in major bibliographic services and abstracting databases including those used in humanities and social sciences collections at JSTOR, Web of Science, Scopus, PhilPapers, and specialist catalogs maintained by the British Library. Its articles are discoverable through university consortia at SAGE Publications-linked platforms, aggregator services used by ProQuest, and library networks in institutions such as Cornell University, University of Toronto, and Australian National University.

Notable Articles and Contributions

Over decades the journal has published influential pieces that have been cited alongside landmark publications by John Searle, Saul Kripke, David Kaplan, Hilary Putnam, W. V. O. Quine, Donald Davidson, P. F. Strawson, J. L. Austin, R. M. Hare, Isaiah Berlin, Derek Parfit, Elizabeth Anscombe, Bernard Williams, Thomas Kuhn, Karl Popper, Ludwig Wittgenstein, G. E. Moore, Bertrand Russell, Immanuel Kant, Plato, and Aristotle. Specific articles addressed problems in philosophy of language, epistemology, and ethics that stimulated discussion with essays in Mind (journal), Philosophical Review, and Noûs, and that were debated at meetings of the American Philosophical Association and Aristotelian Society.

Editors and Editorial Board

Editorial leadership has included prominent scholars affiliated with departments at University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, Yale University, Princeton University, Harvard University, Brown University, University of Pittsburgh, University of St Andrews, and King's College London. The editorial board comprises specialists in areas represented by members linked to institutes such as the British Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Institute for Advanced Study, European University Institute, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, with advisory relationships to editorial committees at journals like Mind (journal), The Journal of Philosophy, and Ethics (journal).

Category:Philosophy journals