The Twenty-fifth World Congress of Philosophy

The twenty-four World Congresses of Philosophy (WCPs) held from 1900 to 2018—WCP25, the next one, will take place in Rome in 2024—have all been momentous cultural events, which anyone can verify by delving into their published proceedings. After World War II, the history of the world congress of philosophy has gone hand in hand with that of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie (FISP), which was founded on 14 August 1948 during WCP10 Amsterdam 1948, i.e., three years after activities had started at the United Nations on 24 October 1945, at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 16 November 1945, and half year before the foundation of the Conseil International de Philosophie et Sciences Humaines on 19 January 1949. the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie (FISP). It is indeed particularly auspicious for WCP25 to take place in Rome, writes Luca Scarantino, the president of FISP, because “few other places would as strikingly illustrate the theme of the Congress, Philosophy across Boundaries,” as Rome does through its unique historical heritage. Rome is not just a spectacular setting: it embodies a distinctive cosmopolitan ideal, the spirit of a civilization that remarkably chose the story of a refugee, Aeneas, drifting on a raft in the Mediterranean to seek asylum on the coast of Latium, as its founding myth.” Let me add, finally, that the Association Internationale des Professeurs de Philosophie (AIPPh) is offering two events at WCP25 Rome 2024. First, a Society Session to celebrate the “AIPPh fifty-year jubilee,” a great achievement; second, a roundtable dedicated to “Democracy and Populism.”