Public Reason is a new blog for political philosophers and theorists. The purpose of the blog is to create an open forum for the academic political philosophy and theory community where we can discuss our common work. Academic blogging has undergone a remarkable growth lately. A group blog, in particular, can be used as a tool to continue the conversations that begin on the journal pages and in the conference halls.
There are two types of user status at Public Reason: participants and members.
Participants have the ability to comment on posts. Participant status is intended for those who have some background and interest in political philosophy, but who are not professional political philosophers or theorists currently working in the field. Undergraduate and (post)graduate students would ordinarily register as participants. To do so please follow this link. Please keep in mind that your registration may take some time to be approved.
Participants are expected to abide by the norms of civil intellectual engagement and may only publish comments under their full names. Public Reason reserves the right to rescind the status of any participant.
Members of the site have the ability to post a variety of items directly to the front page. These include:
- Literature discussions. Start a discussion about a recent journal article.
- Reading groups. Work through a book chapter by chapter with colleagues.
- Working papers. Upload or link to working papers and receive feedback.
- Conference announcements. Post information about forthcoming conferences or calls for papers.
- Fellowship announcements. Advertise upcoming fellowship application deadlines to a broader audience.
- Teaching discussions. Post ideas or questions about conveying theoretical concepts in the classroom.
- General issues. Raise an issue of academic interest not sufficiently addressed in the literature.
To register as a member, you must be employed (or at present actively seeking employment) as a bona fide academic political philosopher or theorist actively engaged in research in the field. Members of the site will ordinarily have completed a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline or have a record of peer-reviewed publication in political philosophy.
Those interested in joining the site as members should either register or send an email to “admin” at “publicreason.net”. In both cases, please include a link to your faculty or academic staff webpage (or otherwise attest to your membership in a professional academic organisation such as, for instance, the American Philosophical Association, the Association for Political Theory, or the Political Studies Association in Britain).
Both participants and members must be logged in to comment.
Public Reason especially welcomes contributions from women, members of historically under-represented groups, and academics from non-Anglophone countries.