It is my honor to take up the position of Editor-in-Chief as Philosophia enters its second half-century. As the Outgoing Editor-in-Chief, Asa Kasher, remarks in his ‘The Spirit of Philosophia: 50 Years in Retrospect,’ (this journal, vol. 50, pp. 2193?2204), Philosophia was founded in 1971 by himself and Alex Blum, who were intent on facilitating high-level research as well as to mark the existence of an active philosophical community in that young country. Since that time the journal has published work by some of philosophy‘s most prominent scholars, and has hosted scholarship making notable progress on its most central questions.

There is now no question of the international prominence of Israel’s philosophical community. Furthermore, neither I nor any of the new Associate Editors calls Israel their professional home. For these reasons, we have taken the decision to remove the journal’s traditional subtitle, ‘Philosophical Quarterly of Israel,’ and replace it with ‘A Global Journal of Philosophy.’ The latter subtitle is intended to signal that we aim to publish philosophical research produced by scholars from all regions of the planet including the Global South. In the short time I have spent editing this journal I have been gratified by the number of submissions from countries other than those that tend to dominate publication in Anglophone philosophy. My colleagues and I hope that this trend will not only persist but also strengthen while scholars from historically dominant countries will continue to submit their best work to us.

As Professor Kasher also points out, a philosophical journal is not merely a transparent container of philosophical writing that has met the standards of referees and the Editorial team. Instead, by virtue of deciding what will be published we also help to influence the field’s direction. This is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and is one of many reasons for my gratitude to the Associate Editors who work alongside me on a daily basis, as well as to the distinguished members of the Editorial Board whose role includes the provision of long-term guidance of the journal’s direction. For similar reasons we are indebted to all of you who have served as referees for articles submitted to the journal or will do so in the future: we rely upon your expert judgment in helping us to determine what will be presented, by virtue of being published by us, as contributions to philosophical knowledge. To highlight our appreciation of our referees, I am pleased to report that henceforth, Philosophia will confer a Referee’s Award for that reviewer for our journal who has most distinguished themself through the excellence of their evaluation of one or more submissions, for the timeliness of those evaluations, and/or for their willingness to provide names of other potential reviewers when they have been unable to advise on a submission. Our first awardee will be announced in early 2024.

A journal may do more to shape a field than deciding what submissions merit publication. For this reason, we shall also be hosting author-meets-critics symposia on recent books of likely interest to readers as well as state-of-the art essays, topical collections, and special issues devoted to important established or emerging topics. It is our hope that in so doing we will provide a valuable resource not only to experts but also to others seeking an efficient way to familiarize themselves with some of the main issues and positions concerning those topics.

What also persists through the transition to a new Editorial team is the journal’s commitment to serve a general philosophical audience. For this reason Philosophia welcomes contributions in traditional areas of philosophy such as normative ethics, meta-ethics, epistemology, aesthetics, political philosophy, action theory, general philosophy of science, moral psychology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, metaphysics and philosophy of mind. The journal also encourages contributions to emerging areas such as philosophy of race, Africana philosophy, indigenous philosophy, Latinx philosophy, applied philosophy of language, political epistemology, environmental philosophy, and philosophy of technology, as well as research that advances one or more of Springer Nature’s Sustainable Development Goals. However, for the purpose of maintaining general accessibility, as well due to the limits of the collective expertise of our Editorial team, starting in 2023 we will not be publishing submissions concerned primarily with interpretive issues in the history of philosophy. For similar reasons we will not publish submissions that are highly technical in nature. Fortunately there are many fine specialist journals at which either kind of research may find a qualified and appreciative readership.Footnote 1

As we embark upon a second half-century for Philosophia, then, we hope to see what is published here represent a wider range of philosophical voices while addressing exciting new philosophical problems for a broad audience. We will also continue the journal’s commitment to what Professor Kasher so aptly describes as clarity and responsibility. Clarity in the sense that authors should prioritize literal and direct language, and when using jargon always explain it in a way that would be intelligible to an astute non-specialist. Responsibility in the sense that authors should always be explicit about what assumptions they are taking for granted, what theses they are arguing for, and how their arguments for those theses proceed.

In closing, let me take this occasion to thank Professor Kasher for devoting the bulk of his professional life to Philosophia. We are also in debt to Amir Horowitz, who served as Associate Editor of the journal throughout 2022. Hundreds of referees have devoted thousands of hours to reviewing submissions for the journal, and for this we give thanks as well. Further, Cristina dos Santos and her staff at Springer have been enormously helpful in easing the transition to our new Editorial team, and we are accordingly grateful to them.

Finally, commencing with Volume 51 of Philosophia I am honored to work alongside the following team of new Associate Editors: Santiago Amaya (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia), Emma Gordon (University of Glasgow, UK), Polycarp Ikuenobe (Kent State University, USA), Jan G. Michel (University of Düsseldorf, Germany), Linda Radzik (Texas A&M University, USA), and Iris Vidmar Jovanović, (University of Rijeka, Croatia). Philosophia depends on these scholars’ skill and perseverance in securing reviewers for submitted manuscripts, adjudicating conflicting reports, and more generally exercising invaluable judgment in helping to elicit the best work from the global community of philosophers who send their research to us.

Mitchell S. Green,

Editor-in-Chief

University of Connecticut