PSA Annual Fund Drive

Join Us in Advancing the Philosophy of Science Association!

The Philosophy of Science Association stands at the intersection of discovery and understanding. For decades, we've brought together the world's leading philosophers, scientists, and thinkers to explore the fundamental questions that shape how we investigate and understand the world: What is the nature of scientific knowledge? How do we validate discoveries? What ethical obligations guide scientific inquiry? These questions now matter more than ever. As technology accelerates and scientific challenges grow more complex - from artificial intelligence and climate science to biomedical innovation - we need rigorous philosophical engagement with the methods, limits, and implications of scientific practice.

Over the past ten years, the passion and vision of our members have influenced PSA functioning to create important initiatives and augment its reach, including:

• The Underrepresented Philosophy of Science Scholars Committee (UPSS) - dedicated to raising awareness about the problem of underrepresentation, developing an expansive mentoring program for students and early career scholars, and providing travel support and dedicated conference space for underrepresented scholars.

• The DEI Caucus - supports the creation of member-led affinity groups to address a variety of DEI focused issues. These groups are offered small seed grants to support their activities such as hosting workshops, developing syllabi and pedagogical practice guides, and working with other groups within the PSA to develop guidelines to help make the organization and the field more welcoming for all participants.

• PSA Office Hour - The PSA Office Hour aims to facilitate interactions between our graduate student membership and prominent philosophers of science, and in a more controlled, accessible, and carbon-conscious setting than is provided by our biennial conference. This program provides an opportunity for students to inquire about dissertation topic choice, difficulties they are encountering in their own research, clarification on issues with others research and much more.

• PSA Around the World - recognizing that the biennial conference is not always accessible to everyone in our community, the PSA now hosts a three-day conference in alternating years. This conference is fully virtual and operates on a "pay what you can" model to ensure that we are inviting a diversity of voices and views from around the world to present and discuss their important work.

These are just a few initiatives that were imagined and implemented by members of the association and are only possible because they selflessly volunteer their time and effort!

Why Your Support Matters

For many years, the PSA was funded almost completely by journal publishing income and member dues. While the PSA is fiscally strong, publishing income has decreased, we can’t increase member dues to cover all our expenses, especially rising costs that directly impact biennial meeting expenses. In today’s world, there is strength in having diverse funding streams. Funding from past partners such as the National Science Foundation is no longer reliable. As science and our beloved institutions come under unprecedented fire, we are stronger together. Building our PSA community includes offering opportunities for all our members and partners to contribute.

Make Your Gift Today

Gifts at every level make a difference. Examples include:

$35 supports the infrastructure for PSA Around the World
$75 advances our initiatives for graduate students and early career scholars
$150 defrays registration costs for a student to attend our biennial conference
$300 contributes to our conference travel fund

Make a Gift

Your donation is tax-deductible. The Philosophy of Science Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tax ID # 51-0141683