In the two months or so since it launched, PhilPapers has thrived. There are now close to 3000 registered users, and twice as many again active unregistered users. Many journals have asked to be added to the database, and we are developing methods whereby this can easily be done. In the meantime, there are a couple of major items of news.
First, PhilPapers has been awarded a grant of 200,000 pounds by the Joint Informations Systems Committee in the UK. This grant will be administered by the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London, where David Bourget will be based for the next three years. With support from London and ANU (which will now be the joint sponsors of PhilPapers), this grant will enable the development of many new features for PhilPapers. Congratulations to David for doing all the work to make this grant possible. Many thanks also to Barry Smith at the Institute, and to Tim Crane before him, for their support.
Second, we have introduced a system of editorships for PhilPapers categories, from the area level down to the leaf level. Editors will have a set of powerful tools for populating and maintaining PhilPapers categories, as outlined in the editors' manual. We strongly encourage qualified philosophers to apply. If you're interested and have any questions, feel free to drop me an email.
We are hoping to develop the community around PhilPapers in a number of ways. The editorships are one. The discussion forums are another. There has been some good discussion so far, but there is the potential for a lot more. We would like to see these turn into a locus for all sorts of high-quality interaction between professional philosophers (of the sort that one sees on the best blogs, for example) whether concerning philosophical articles and books, philosophical issues, issues regarding the profession of philosophy, or discussion of ideas for Philpapers itself. To that end, the forums are now moderated, and we have also introduced a PhilPapers blog based on the forums. We strongly encourage qualified philosophers to take part in discussions in the forums, and to initiate discussions about matters of interest.
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