Journal of the History of Philosophy

Introduction THIS IS A SPECIALISSUEin celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Journal of theHistoryof Philosophy.From its founding in 1963, theJournal has fostered the kind of historical understanding and scholarship that is becoming increasingly recognized as an essential element in the doing of philosophy . The current interest in the history of philosophy, and the present thriving condition of the Journal, encourage me to look forward with confidence to continued growth in the next quarter century. The number and quality of submissions to the Journal have continued to rise. In response, we have been publishing an additional hundred pages per year since 1985. A newly established series, entitled Journal of the Historyof PhilosophyMonographs,will publish studies in the history of philosophy that are too long to be printed as articles but are shorter than a standard book. These studies, ranging from 8o to 12o pages, will begin to appear in early 1987. The essays in this issue have been collected from a representative group of philosophers who are all distinguished scholars in their fields. In some instances I have asked scholars to reflect on their research or to look at their field in somewhat broader terms than usual. Richard Popkin's survey of recent research in seventeenth-century philosophy and religion is at the same time a commentary on what needs to be done. David Carr's essay on Husserl discusses his main contributions to twentieth-century philosophy. Others present more specialized studies: R. E. Allen on Plato's Republic,John F. Wippel on Aquinas and the Aristotelian categories, and William L. Rowe on the free will controversy between Collins and Clarke. W. T. Jones, who served on the original Executive Committee, has contributed an essay on Rousseau. John Yolton published an essay on Locke and Hume in the first issue and has provided a study of Locke's French disciples for this occasion. The international character of the Journal is represented by C. A. van Peursen's study of contingency in Wolff's philosophy and by Karl-Otto Apel's essay on responses to Dilthey's explanation/understanding distinction. Special thanks go to John Krois, the Assistant Editor, for translating Apel's study from the German, and for all his extra work in the preparation of this issue. [1] 2 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY I am especially pleased to include an essay by John E. Smith on Herbert Schneider's work in American philosophy. Herbert Schneider, who died in 1984, was a founding member of theJournal's Executive Committee and its first Book Review Editor. The concluding essay by Edward Strong, the first chairman of the Journal's Executive Committee, describes how the Journal was founded in response to a recommendation by a special committee appointed by the American Philosophical Association. By way of supplementation, a few more notes about the Journal's twenty-five year history might be of interest. Richard Popkin was the Editor from 1962 to 198o. Beginning with the first issue of October 1963, he guided the development of the Journal into a highly respected and widely circulated publication. David Fate Norton, who served first as Executive Editor, was Editor from 198o to 198~. Richard Popkin and Richard Watson generously agreed to act as interim coeditors until I could assume the editorship in the fall of 1983 . The Journal has had a number of Book Review Editors over the years. Herbert Schneider served in this capacity from 1963-1973 , in cooperation with various co-editors: Salih Alich, David Fate Norton, John Goheen, A. R. Louch, Philip Merlan, Ralph Ross, and W. H. Werkmeister. A. R. Louch was Book Review Editor in 1974 and was followed by Craig Walton who served from 1975-1981. I was Book Review Editor from 1981-1983, with William Edwards, Thomas Flynn, James Gouinlock and Richard Parry as Associate Review Editors. James Force has been Book Revie~v Editor since September 1983. On the long road to financial stability the Journal has been helped by the generous contributions of individuals and by the institutions that are listed as Sponsors and Sustaining Subscribers at the head of each issue. Currently, the editorial office is housed at Emory University, which...