Policies and Governance
The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s main governing document is The Memorandum and Articles of Association, originally drafted when the Institute was founded in 1925 and revised following a policy review on 16 January 2009.
This document identifies the Institute’s charitable purpose:
‘to advance the education of the public
in the subject of philosophy’
The Institute also has a particular governance structure. Policy is determined by the Council, while an Executive Committee of trustees and a partnership of directors run the day-to-day activities of the Institute.
Reporting
Each year, we produce an annual report that highlights our activity in the year and transparently publishes our financial performance and position. The 2024 annual report can be downloaded here.
The representation of women in philosophy
The Royal Institute of Philosophy subscribes to the BPA/SWIP Good Practice Scheme. The Scheme aims to assist UK philosophy departments, learned societies and journals in ensuring that they have policies and procedures in place that encourage the representation of women in philosophy. The Institute has implemented the recommendations set out in the scheme, and continues to monitor its progress in this regard.
The Institute is committed to ensuring that a reasonable proportion of women are nominated on its executive committee and for official positions. The Institute follows BPA/SWIP Good Practice Recommendations for the events it organises, and it is a condition on sponsorship that the events the Royal Institute funds are arranged by those who follow these recommendations too. The Institute’s journal, Philosophy, has a policy of triple blind review, and this includes submissions for the Annual Essay Prize. Think’s editor also takes steps to ensure women are well represented in the articles solicited.
Accessibility
The Royal Institute of Philosophy is committed to making its events as accessible as possible for as many people as possible. It follows the BPA/SWIP Guidelines for Accessible Conferences and Public Lectures, and asks all those we sponsor to take similar steps to ensure accessibility.
Equality, Inclusion and Diversity
The Royal Institute is committed to equality, inclusion and diversity, and you can read its policy document below. The aim of the policy is to ensure no job applicant, employee or worker is discriminated against either directly or indirectly on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
Safeguarding Policy
The Royal Institute is committed to ensuring that we are a safe organisation for everyone that we work with in whatever capacity. Our Safeguarding Policy outlines how we ensure the welfare of adults and children is safeguarded.
Complaints Policy
The Royal Institute is committed to taking feedback seriously, including when there is a complaint. Our complaints policy outlines how we take complaints seriously and outlines the uniformed way they are dealt with.
Privacy Policy
This statement explains how the Royal Institute of Philosophy uses the personal information we collect about you.