About
The Joint Session is a three-day conference in philosophy that is held annually during the summer by the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association. It has taken place at nearly every major university across the United Kingdom and in Ireland. Since 1910, the Joint Session has grown to become the largest gathering of philosophers in the country, attracting prestigious UK and international speakers working in a broad range of philosophical areas. Inaugurated by the incoming President of the Mind Association, the Joint Session includes symposia, open and postgradaute sessions, and a range of satellite conferences.
The first Joint Session took place in the summer of 1910 off Albermarle Street in the Mayfair area of London. For a number of years it included the British Psychological Society. In 1918, the first official record of the Joint Session was published as the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume.
One notable feature of the Joint Session is its symposium format. The symposia provide a rare opportunity to witness live and engaging debate between leading philosophers. According to the 11th President of the Aristotelian Society, H. Wildon Carr (1915-1918):
“The purpose of the Aristotelian Society Symposium is to bring together opposite, divergent, and diverse answers to some vital question of philosophical controversy in a definite manner. The opening paper is designed to state a thesis, and the second paper an antithesis, and these are followed by other points of view’’ (Supplementary Volume I [1918]).
Gratis: Symposia on “Pretending” feat. J.L. Austin & G.E.M. Anscombe at the1958 Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society & the Mind Association - University of Southampton
Featured symposia include Gilbert Ryle and G.E. Moore (1933), R.W. Hepburn and Iris Murdoch (1956), Thomas Nagel and Bernard Williams (1976), Martha Nussbaum and Rosalind Hursthouse (1984), John Broome and Derek Parfit (1997), and many more.
2020 Joint Session
The 94th Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association will be held at the University of Kent from 10 to 12 July 2020.
This year's local organisers are Graeme Forbes and Simon Kirchin.
From a university started with some 500 students and 150 staff on a greenfield (and rather muddy) site, the University of Kent has grown today into an institution of over 19,000 students and over 3,000 staff. Consistent top 20 positions in major league tables and two Queen’s Anniversary Prizes reinforce its enviable reputation for the quality and distinctiveness of its academic activities and locations. With campuses at Canterbury and Medway and centres in Brussels, Paris, Athens and Rome, Kent is “the UK’s European university".
Call for Papers
open & postgraduate sessions
Over the years the Joint Session has grown to include submitted papers from all areas of philosophy. The Open Sessions take place during the Saturday and Sunday afternoons, allowing for an extensive and diverse programme of talks. The intention is to accommodate all philosophical material suitable for presentation - so far as time and space in the programme allow - and to not operate on a selective policy.
The Postgraduate Session takes place on the Saturday and contains eight student papers that were submitted for blind-review and selected by the Editor. Exemplary talks from the Postgraduate Session have the opportunity of being published in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society.
future joint sessions
XCVII
2023 joint session:
TBC
july 2023
Visit our Future Joint Sessions page for further information.
supplementary volume
The inaugural address and symposia for the Joint Session are published in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume, which is published digitally and in hardcover every June. The Supplementary Volume is sent to subscribing members of the Society in categories 4 and 5.
Members in other categories can purchase the hardcover Supplementary Volume from the Online Shop. Volumes will also be available at the registration desk during the conference.
Subscriptions to the Supplementary Volume also includes online access via Wiley Online Library (please note that one-off purchases of the hardcover volume do not include membership or online access).
Learn more about the Supplementary Volume, including info on how to subscribe to the 2019 edition.
Latest Release: View the abstracts and full papers for the 2018 Supplementary Volume XCII
past conferences
subscribing memberships
Subscribing members receive online access to the Proceedings from 2000 to the most current issue.
Subscribing members also receive the bound, hardcover volume of the latest Proceedings through the post.
Learn more about subscribing memberships with the Aristotelian Society
