Support for Philosophy

Essential Resources, Commemorative Publications, Award Sponsorship, Open Access Hostinge-collection

The Philosophy Documentation Center has supported teaching, research, and professional activities in philosophy and related fields since 1966. We provide online access to hundreds of philosophy publications and services that support continuing access to essential online resources. Our goal is to expand the reach of philosophical work outside the classroom and increase cooperation among philosophers everywhere.


Essential Resources

We support essential philosophy resources with hosting and technical support, payment management, and other services. For example, we host the International Directory of Philosophy and the TeachPhilosophy 101 web site. Together with the Center for Digital Philosophy we maintain PhilPapers, the most extensive index of philosophy publications now available. We provide financial services in support of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Our work helps ensure continuing expansion and long-term availability of these projects.

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Commemorative Publications

We support prominent commemorative publications in multiple languages. For example, we have digitized all publications from the World Congress of Philosophy in cooperation with the International Federation of Philosophical Societies. We provide all volumes of presidential addresses of the American Philosophical Association (1901-2000) online, in hardbound print, and in multiple eBook formats. We publish or host hundreds of conference volumes for the American Catholic Philosophical Association, the International Association for Business and Society, the North American Society for Social Philosophy, and other organizations. The scope of this work continues to expand.

Logo International Federation of Philosophical Societies Cover presidential addresses of the American Philosophical Association Logo International Association for Business and Society Cover Social Philosophy Today

Prize for Excellence and InnovationLogo for the prize for excellence and innovation on philosophy programms

We co-sponsor the annual Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs with the American Philosophical Association. The aim of this prize is to recognize programs that risk undertaking new initiatives and do so with excellence and success. It is also intended to publicize these programs so that they may inspire and influence others to follow their lead.

The winning program receives a plaque confirming the award and the host institution receives campus-wide online access to a bundle of philosophy resources for the following year. The value to the host institution is well over $3,000. This brings a tangible benefit to all students and faculty at the host institution, with the intention of strengthening interest in, and support for, the award winning program. The prize is given at a reception at the APA Eastern Division meeting.

Excellence is assessed by a record of achievement, the accomplishment of clearly defined goals, and the appropriateness of the program for emulation by others in the field. Innovation is assessed by the development of new research areas, new interdisciplinary or international connections, new modes of teaching or dissemination, new audiences for philosophical work, or extensions of existing boundaries of the discipline.

Questions about nomination procedure may be directed to [email protected].


Open Access Hosting

We provide open access hosting for a selection of peer-reviewed publications and archives. We try to avoid author fees and we do not require log in or registration for access. The open access projects we support include journals, conference proceedings, and archival collections. Not every project can be sustained without fees, sales, or subscription income. Contact us for more information. Examples:

Cover Logos and Episteme Cover Symposion Cover Thought and Practice Cover Thought and Practice in African Philosophy