About the Journal

Focus and Scope

Philosophical Inquiries is at the moment the only philosophical journal in Italy which does not aim at covering just one specific field of philosophy. Rather, its target is a variety of philosophical questions of wide interest, belonging to fields such as epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, aesthetics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of law. Its ambition is that of gathering together international scholars committed to up-to-date research on open questions in those general fields. It is published both in print and on-line. The scholars who work in the journal’s Editorship, Advisory Board, and Executive Board do not belong to what might be called as a “school” and do not privilege any exclusive philosophical style. They have worked over years within national and international research projects and we believe that they together offer an example of how a respectful scientific community should ideally look like and cooperate. They share interests in the above mentioned disciplines. Above all, they all share the conviction that philosophy done right should display the hallmark of a sound argumentation that can be able to help the philosophical debate to advance rationally and to let the single contributions be clearly assessed in terms of the best standards and practice nowadays acknowledged by the international philosophical community. We are not prejudiced against other or more innovative styles, but we want to guarantee the clarity of the scientific communication, so that opinions and ideas can be exchanged fruitfully.

Peer Review Process

All papers considered appropriate for the journal are anonymously reviewed by two (sometimes three) reviewers. Authors will be required to revise their paper(s) according to the reviewers' comments, and to sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement Form if their paper(s) is accepted for publication. Papers accepted for publication are subject to non-substantive, stylistic editing. The Editor reserves the right to make any necessary changes in the papers, or request the author to do so, or reject the submitted paper. The proofs will be sent along to the author for confirmation.

Journal History

Philosophical Inquiries is an Italian philosophical journal published in English. Its aim is to cover a wide range of philosophical questions of broad interest and belonging to diverse fields, such as epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, aesthetics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of law. It seeks to bring together international scholars committed to cutting edge research on pressing questions in those fields. The scholars who belong to the journal’s Editorial Board, Advisory Board, and Executive Board do not belong to what might be called a “school” nor do they privilege any exclusive philosophical style in their works. Over the years, they have shared concerns, and, on many occasions, have worked together on national and international research projects; and we believe that, as a scholarly group, they exemplify what a respectful scientific community should ideally look like and how it should cooperate. More importantly, those people all share the conviction that philosophical writing should be clear, precise, and well-argued, in order to help advancing debates rationally. We naturally welcome other or more innovative styles; but as we want to guarantee that the scientific communication will be efficient, so that opinions, ideas, and arguments can be exchanged and discussed fruitfully, we recommend submitting contributions that avoid any philosophical jargon that cannot be easily accessed by scholars who are unfamiliar with it. We also suggest avoiding analyses concerning questions exclusively internal to a tradition or to an author. Historical and philological contributions should be submitted only to the extent that they help to clarify, conceptually or “genealogically,” a philosophical question that is alive in contemporary philosophical debates.

Needless to say, the submission system in use on this website and thus the double-blind peer-review process do not apply to the present first issue of the journal, which includes invited papers only. Prof. John Armstrong, Prof. Anthony Kenny, Prof. Joseph Margolis, in addition to all the participants in the Focus section, are warmly acknowledged for contributing to launch Philosophical  Inquiries.