The Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SPP)
Welcome to the home page for the Society for Philosophy and Psychology
(SPP). This site is under continuous construction, so please return to
check for additional files, new information, and revised forms.
Purpose and History
The stated purpose of the SPP is to promote interaction between philosophers,
psychologists and other cognitive scientists on issues of common concern.
The SPP held its first meeting October 24-26, 1974 at MIT. It met for
a second time Spring 1976 at Cornell University. At this second meeting,
conferees passed a constitution and elected officers.
Jerry Fodor, then of MIT, was the first SPP president. Since then, SPP
has held annual meetings on a regular basis.
Those interested in seeing how the society has progressed over the last
28 years might want to look over programs of past meetings.
Membership
Membership in the SPP is open to anyone interested in joining. Paying annual
dues entitles one to membership for that academic year. Annual membership
dues are $25.00 per academic year (August-July); student dues are $5.00.
Dues are payable at the beginning of each academic year (August). A membership
application form is available for your use. Members are entitled
to vote on all issues at the annual business meeting (including election
of officers), three mailings per year, and subscription to the SPP e-mail
list server.
The SPP List Server
The list server is used to inform subscribers about SPP matters such as
the annual meetings, calls for papers, and membership benefits. NOTE: the
SPP list server IS NOT a forum for electronic discussion. We maintain two
lists. The spp-announce list will only be used for official SPP business.Ý
A second list spp-misc is used for conference calls, etc., from non-SPP
organizations that the list moderator believes are likely to be of interest
to SPP members. We will not share subscriber's addresses. To
subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your options, visit the list server website
at: http://spp.tamu.edu/.
Annual Meeting
The SPP sponsors a four-day annual meeting, usually held in June. Meetings
consist of invited lectures and symposia, contributed papers, and a Presidential
address. Social events include a reception and a banquet. SPP encourages
suggestions for the invited portion of the program for upcoming meetings.
These should be directed to this year's Program
Co-Chairs. We also encourage members (especially non-philosophers)
to submit contributed papers to the meeting.
The next meeting (2007) will be held at York University in Toronto,
Canada.
Officers and Constitution
The SPP elects officers and Executive Committee members at its annual business
meeting. The President serves a one year term, and also serves as President-elect
and Past President (ex officio positions on the Executive Committee) in
the years before and after he or she presides. The President appoints Program
Co-Chairs for the annual meeting of the year he or she presides. The Secretary-Treasurer
serves a three-year term, and is responsible for the day-to-day operations
of the SPP. Executive Committee members serve three-year terms, on a rotational
basis. The SPP makes every reasonable effort to keep an equal number of
philosophers and scientists on the Executive Committee every year, to have
both a philosopher and a scientist as yearly Program Co-Chairs, and to
alternate the President yearly between philosophers and scientists.
Prizes Offered by SPP
Each year the SPP awards two prizes at its annual meeting. Congratulations
to the 2006 winners.
William James Prize, for the best contributed paper by a graduate
student.
Liane Young, Dept. of Psychology, Harvard.
The Stanton Award, for a scholar in philosophy or psychology
who has begun making significant contributions to interdisciplinary research
and has been active in SPP.
Fei Xu, Dept. of Psychology, University of British Columbia.
The Stanton award is endowed in honor Harry and Betty Stanton of
Bradford Books/MIT Press.ÝThe executive committee selects the winner of
the Stanton Prize. SPP members are invited to send nominations for
the 2007 prize to the chair of the executive committee, David Sanford,
dhs@duke.edu.
Follow this link to see past winners of these
awards.
Inquiries
The SPP welcomes inquiries about its activities. Address inquiries to the
Secretary-Treasurer:
Joe Cruz, Department of Philosophy
Williams College
Stetson Hall
Williamstown, MA 01267
email: jcruz@williams.edu
We also welcome suggestions for improving this website. Send comments
and questions about it to Jim Garson, e-mail: Jgarson@uh.edu
last modified 1/4/2007
