Book Description

Founded in 1900 to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly activity in philosophy, to facilitate the professional work and teaching of philosophers, and to represent philosophy as a discipline, the American Philosophical Association (APA) has from a few hundred members to more than ten thousand, now being one of the largest philosophical societies in the world and the only American philosophical society not devoted to a single special school or philosophical approach. In 1999, in anticipation of its centennial, the APA authorized philosopher Richard T. Hull to collect and publish the presidential addresses delivered over the course of the first hundred years of the APA. This is the tenth volume in the series, which covers addresses given between 1991 and 2000. Each presidential address is accompanied by a photo and biography of the author , a chronology of the APA, a list of presidents per decade, a list of universities and colleges closely associated with each president, and name and subject indexes. Distinguished philosophers represented in this volume include Annette Baier, Stuart Hampshire, Judith Thompson, Stanley Cavell, Mary Mothersill, Elliott Sober, Martha Nussbaum, and many others. This unique record of the development and leadership of American philosophy during the twentieth century will complement the libraries of both professional philosophers and interested non-professionals and it provides an excellent resource for students and professionals alike to trace the history of special interest areas in philosophy. An eleventh volume of commissioned essays, covering each decade of The Association's first hundred years, is planned. This will include essays that comment on the philosophical trends represented in each of the decades of the APA's first century.