1. Publishing the open-access journal Philosophy of Physics

Our academic journal is our most visible responsibility. It aims to provide the flagship publication outlet for the philosophy of physics discipline, broadly construed.

What is open access? In short, it means that all our publications are free for all to download, although they are still protected by a Creative Commons licence. This leads to greater visibility, and greater accessibility to a broader community of readers than traditional publishing means.

2. Supporting the international philosophy of physics community

We are a fully international society, aiming to serve the community of researchers and students on all inhabited continents. Although we are a registered charity in the United Kingdom for the purposes of managing membership fees, the community we serve is the entire world. As part of maintaining our journal, our activities include facilitating research collaborations and events where possible.

3. Encouraging diversity and representation in the field

We aim to serve the philosophy of physics community in a way that encourages its healthy growth. To us, this means encouraging diversity and better representation for under-represented groups in the field. For more, please read our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion below.

Many scholarly societies receive their primary income from journal sales, which university libraries must then struggle to pay. Our model is different.

The journal Philosophy of Physics is entirely open access, and so costs readers nothing. Instead, we fund our activities through submission fees, membership, and charitable donations. Your membership as a philosopher of physics or friend of the field is what makes our efforts to support the discipline possible.

The Philosophy of Physics Society is in the process of registering as a charity regulated by the Charity Commission in the UK. There are no dividend bonuses or any other profits collected by any of our individual members. All our income is used in service of the three aims above.

The Philosophy of Physics Society is committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion in our field and will actively aim to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in philosophy of physics. In particular, the Philosophy of Physics Society encourages diversity and inclusion in the following ways.

1. Economic status, academic status, age, and geographic location: 

1. Allowing any individual over eighteen with an accredited academic affiliation from any country to become a member of the Society, with no restrictions on the basis of academic status or geographic location.
2. Allowing individuals with no accredited academic affiliation (including retired senior academics) to become members conditional on the approval of their application by the Board of Governors.
3. Encouraging students to become members of the Society by exempting them from payment of the membership fee.
4. Encouraging junior academics to become members of the Society by membership fee reduction.
5. Committing to removing financial barriers to membership for all those who are relatively less able to pay.

2. Socioeconomic background, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender:

1. Encouraging organisation of local chapters around the world, which will promote activities in philosophy of physics in regions that are far away from the typical conference locations (especially in Latin America, South Asia and Africa).
2. Supporting mentoring of students from underrepresented groups and from countries that are  far away from the typical conference locations (especially in Latin America, South Asia and Africa).
3. Supporting minority-focused initiatives such as workshops and summer schools directly addressed to underrepresented groups.
4. Increasing accessibility and global connectivity by hosting online meetings, workshops and conferences.
5. Interacting and collaborating with other groups that actively seek to encourage diversity and inclusion in philosophy.
6. Actively encouraging gender, ethnicity and nationality representation in the different activities organised by the Society.
7. Actively opposing any type of oppression in our community, including discrimination of any kind.