The Association Dialectica

The association Dialectica is the owner of the journal Dialectica, which has been flipped to Platinum Open Access by the Dialectica Open Access Initiative and which is currently published by the OA publisher Philosophie.ch.  

To reconstitute the association and to get a clearer view where it, and the journal, are heading, the current editor Philipp Blum and his former co-editor Fabrice Correia have decided to convene two general assemblies this year - a first, "extraordinary" one to decide on the general direction, and a second, "ordinary" one for elections, accounts and the ordinary association business. 

The aim of the extraordinary General Assembly 2025 is to vote on two, mutually exclusive and jointly exhautive propositions, put forward by Fabrice Correia and Philipp Blum.

All members are invited and have the right to vote. For the purposes of this assembly, is considered member everyone who was professionally involved with the editing of Dialectica during the past five years.

The agenda is as follows: 

1. welcome address by FC, explaining why this extraordinary assembly was convened (5')
2. establish a list of everyone present and voting (3')
3. overview over the flipping process and the recent history, financial and editorial, by PB (summary) (7')
4. financial and legal background to the vote (summary), by PB (5')
5. explanation of proposition FC, by FC (5') (download argumentation): to "set up short discussion period between Damiano [Costa], Philipp, Marco Schori (the current managing editor) and the EB, the latter being represented by Gianfranco [Soldati] and [Fabrice], to determine the conditions under which Damiano could take on the role of editor. At the end of this period, Damiano tells us if he wishes to apply."
6. explanation of proposition PB, by PB (5') (download argumentation): to "continue with Philipp [Blum] as editor, reconstitute the association, invite all Swiss philosophers to the EC and to conclude an OA publishing contract with Philosophie.ch"
7. discussion (10'), not more
8. vote: proposition FC or proposition PB (but not both) (5')
9. decision on the date of the ordinary assembly (5')

To participate, please click on the following link:

https://unige.zoom.us/j/63313472795?pwd=IFVbAxJwlWRnuJ9vwz7bHZqSDBLabe.1

If you are willing to serve as a member of the Association's Directors' Board (aka Executive Board) or as a member of Dialectica's Editorial Committee, the group of Associate Editors responsible for the editorial policy of Dialectica, please announce your candidature by email at least 10 days before the GA. 

The following list of agenda items is still incomplete. If you have propositions for agenda items, please send them by email until 10 days before the GA. 

• election of new members of the Executive Board (for a period of two years), in addition to those from the list below who accept their previous election, from the list of those who declared their candidacy 10 days prior;
• election of a president of the Association (for a period of two years), from the list of those members of the Executive Board who declared their candidacy 10 days prior;
• election of new members to the Editorial Committee (for a period of two year), from the list of those who declared their candidacy 10 days prior;
• election of one or several reviews editors (for a period of two years), from the list of those who declared their candidacy10 days prior;
• election of new members to the Honorary Board, in addition to those from the list below who accept their previous election, from the list of those who declared their candidacy 10 days prior;
• election of new members to the Consulting Board, in addition to those from the list below who accept their previous election, from the list of those who declared their candidacy 10 days prior;
• review (not acceptance or endorsement) of the Editor's report on the financial situation and the state of the current contract with our publisher.

The newly constituted Executive Board will then proceed, in close temporal proximity to the date of the GA, if possible, to appoint

• an Editor, for a period of two years (who, in turn, appoints a Managing Editor);
• among the members of the Editorial Committee and on the recommendation of the Editor, Associate Editors. 

If there is an offer for a further publication contract with Philosophie.ch, the Executive Board will have to decide on it as well.  

President of the Association: vacant, to be elected by the GA

Editor: Philipp Blum (until 31.12.2024, ad interim until the GA), elected by the members of the Association; new mandate or successor to be voted by the GA

Managing Editor: Marco Schori (until 31.3.2025, ad interim until the GA), appointed by the Editor

Members of the Executive Board (until 31.12.2025): Gianfranco Soldati, Fabrice Correia, François Récanati; pending acceptance of their election: Manuel Garcia-Carpintero, Diego Marconi, Carlos Moya, Marcel Weber, Peter Simons, Marco Santambrogio, Martine Nida-Rümelin, Jérôme Dokic

Reviews Editors: Philipp Blum, Stephan Leuenberger (resigned)

Members of the Editorial Committee (until 31.12.2024): Sara Amighetti, Joshua Babic, Davood Bahjat, Philipp Blum, Claudio Calosi, Alessandro Cecconi, Zoé Christoff, Fabrice Correia, Matthias Egg, Andrea Giananti, Martin Glazier, Aleks Knoks, Arturs Logins, Jörg Löschke, Giovanni Merlo, Ryan Miller, Michael Müller, Paolo Natali, Donnchadh O'Conaill (resigned), Simone Olivadoti, Edgar Phillips, Stephanie Rennick, Mario Schärli, Marco Schori, Sebastian Schmidt, David Schroeren, Michael Sullivan McCourt, Mike Stuart, Daniel Vanello (resigned)

Members of the Honorary Board (until 31.12.2025): Pascal Engel and, pending acceptance of their election, Erwin Engeler, Wilhelm Essler, Richard Glauser, Guido Küng, Kevin Mulligan, Daniel Schulthess

Members of the Consulting Board (until 31.12.2025, pending their acceptance of the election): Johannes Brandl, João Branquinho, Elke Brendel, Ingar Brinck, Eros Corazza, Josep Corbi, Michael Esfeld, Dagfinn Føllesdal, Frank Jackson, Max Kistler, Max Kölbel, Jan Lacki, Karel Lambert, Paolo Leonardi, Fraser Macbride, Josep Macià, Genoveva Martí, Élisabeth Pacherie, David Piñeda, Wlodek Rabinowicz, Barry Smith, Christine Tappolet, Neil Tennant, Mark Textor, Achille Varzi, Alberto Voltolini, Timothy Williamson

Chapter 1: Nature, aim, headquarters and duration of the Association
 
Art. 1 - Dialectica is an association in the sense of art. 60 seq. of the Swiss Civil Code.
 
Art. 2 - It publishes Dialectica, the international journal of philosophy founded in 1947 by Gaston Bachelard, Paul Bernays and Ferdinand Gonseth. The association Dialectica is responsible for the editorial policy of the journal Dialectica and for the maintenance of high scholarly standards. It administers the copyright of all contents published in Dialectica. The aims of the association are as follows:
a) to publish first-rate articles and discussion notes predominantly in theoretical and systematic philosophy;
b) to publish reviews of books in philosophy, predominantly of those authored or edited by European philosophers;
c) to promote analytic philosophy and further contacts among analytic philosophers in Europe, e.g. by organising colloquia and Dialectica lectures and awarding the Dialectica essay prize.
 
Art. 3 - Its headquarters is in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.
 
Art. 4 - To pursue its aims specified in art. 2, the Association
a) appoints, for a period of two years, among its members an Executive Board;
b) appoints, for a period of two years, among the members of the Executive Board, a President of the Association, as primus inter pares;
c) appoints, for a period of two years, among its members an Editorial Committee;
d) appoints, for a period of two years, among its members a Reviews Editor;
e) appoints, for a period of three years, members to the Honorary Board;
f) appoints, for a period of three years, members to the Consulting Board;
g) proceeds, if required, to a revision of these Statutes;
h) promotes the journal and its aims;
i) reviews the financial records of the previous year;
j) meets at least once a year.
Its decisions are made by the absolute majority of those voting, except for amendments of the Statutes, for which a 2/3 majority is required. In urgent cases, voting can take place by correspondence.
 
Art. 5 - The Editor, the Reviews Editor, the Managing Editor and the members of the Executive Board and Editorial Committee are automatically members of the Association. Each body may co-opt new members, to be confirmed by the General Assembly of the year following the election.
 
Art. 6 - Membership in the association may be terminated
a) by resignation
b) by exclusion, pronounced with a 2/3 majority, on the grounds of (i) failure to observe the statutes or (ii) persistent opposition to the realisation of the aims of the association.
 
Art. 7 - The association may receive attributions of all kinds.
 
 
Chapter 2: Composition and Functioning of the Association
 
Art. 8 - The Executive Board
a) is elected for two years;
b) bears the scientific responsibility for the contents of Dialectica;
c) supervises the activities of the Editor and of the Reviews Editor;
d) meets once a year to discuss the strategy and policies of Dialectica;
e) represents Dialectica and supports it by its activities;
f) concludes a contract with a publisher for Dialectica and bears the obligations lied down therein;
g) appoints an Editor, for a period of two years;
h) elects, among the members of the Editorial Committee, Associate Editors, for services rendered in the past and on the recommendation of the Editor;
i) coopts new members, by a 2/3 majority of those voting.
 
Art. 9 - The Editor
a) is appointed for two years as the director (“Geschäftsführer”, “administrateur” / ”directeur general”) of the Association;
b) ensures that accepted contributions to Dialectica are of a sufficient standard to establish and maintain the international status of Dialectica;
c) ensures that consistent standards of acceptance and rejection are maintained;
d) ensures that the Executive Board meets the obligations lied down in its contract with the publisher of Dialectica and signs the publishing agreement on behalf of the Association;
e) determines the order of contents appearing in Dialectica;
f) supervises the activities of the Editorial Committee, of which s/he is a member, defends his/her decisions in person to the Editorial Committee, taking their opinions into account;
g) supervises the activities of the Associate Editors;
h) appoints, for a period of two years, a Managing Editor;
i) is responsible of the finances of the Association, reporting to its President and, once a year, to the General Assembly;
j) reports on the activities of the Editorial Committee, in particular their editorial decisions, to the Executive Board;
k) represents and engages the association by his/her signature.
 
Art. 10 - The Editorial Committee
a) is elected for two years as the pool of internal referees for papers submitted to Dialectica;  
b) actively seeks contributions to Dialectica;
c) meets regularly, at least six times per year, to discuss all submissions to the journal and to decide on their acceptance or rejection;
d) has contributions to Dialectica reviewed by appropriately qualified and experienced persons, and evaluates their referee reports;
e) supports the Editor in his/her tasks b) and c);
f) coopts new members, by a 2/3 majority of those voting.
 
 
Art. 11 - The Associate Editors
a) are elected for two years for a certain subpart of their area of specialisation of their own choosing (their “domain”), in which they have been active as Editorial Committee members during the last year;
b) read and evaluate all papers submitted to Dialectica that fall within their domain; in case domains of Associate Editors overlap, all of them read and evaluate the papers falling within the intersection;
c) propose qualified and experienced reviewers, and evaluate their reports;
d) propose to the Editor a decision concerning the papers in their domain;
e) evaluate the papers in their domain comparatively, establishing a rating;
f) support the Editor in his/her tasks b), c) and d).
 
Art. 12 - The Managing Editor
a) is appointed for two years;
b) is in charge of the day-to-day functioning of the journal, the correspondence with the authors, the referees, the publisher and the members of the Executive Board, the Consulting Board and the Editorial Committee;
c) coordinates the activities of the Editorial Committee, of which s/he is a member;
e) assists the Editor in his/her tasks b), c), d), e) and f);
f) assists the Editorial Committee in its tasks b), c) and d).
 
Art. 13 - The Reviews Editor
a) is elected for two years;
b) commissions, evaluates and edits book reviews;
c) submits proposals for book symposia to the Editorial Committee.
 
Art. 14 - The Consulting Board
a) is elected for three years;
b) supports the Editor in its tasks, b), c) and d);
c) supports the Editorial Commitee in its task c), particularly by refereeing contributions to Dialectica.
 
Art. 15 - The Honorary Board
a) is elected for three years;
b) supports the Editor in its tasks, b), c) and d).
 
Art. 16 - The present statutes enter into force as from 1. January 2023.