Philosophical Explorations was born in the mind of Jan Bransen. He came up with the idea of starting a journal in the philosophy of mind and action that would cross traditional boundaries: boundaries between different approaches in philosophy (analytic and continental) and boundaries between philosophy and the social and natural sciences. Soon he found partners in crime in Stefaan Cuypers and the current editor, and these three became the founding fathers of Philosophical Explorations. The first meeting of the editorial board was on 13 September 1996, chaired by Jan.
During the past 17 volumes of the journal, Jan has witnessed considerable growth. Philosophical Explorations has ceased to be a newcomer and is now one of the main journals in the philosophy of mind and action; academic discussions in the journal have become more specialized; the analytic – continental divide has become less important; we have become a truly international journal with authors, referees and associate editors from all over the world; we have changed publisher from Van Gorcum to Routledge; we went online in 2004; subscriptions have become less important and downloads and readership have come to matter much more; and in all phases of the manuscript handling process, we have become much more professional.
After so many years, Jan has decided to step down from the editorial board. He had earlier stepped down as editor in 2005, but his commitment to Philosophical Explorations made him continue as associate editor for another 10 years. Now he has decided that it is time to do other things. On behalf of all the members of the editorial board, I would like to thank Jan for the numerous things he has done for the journal. We are very, very grateful for the enormous amount of work and expertise Jan has put into Philosophical Explorations to make it a success. Above all, we would like to thank him for his friendship and for his optimism at the time when the journal was in its early stages.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Johannes Roessler and Markus Schlosser as new members of the editorial board of Philosophical Explorations. We are very glad to have such distinguished philosophers onboard and we look forward to working with them.
There are also changes in the editorial offices. Fleur Jongepier will step down as editorial assistant after three years of excellent work for the editorial board. Fleur took excellent care of manuscript handling which created essential peace of mind for the editor! Her charm, good-humour and professionalism made her a very effective editorial assistant and a joy to work with. Fleur's job will be taken over by Marjolein Lanzing, who started last September. We wish Marjolein all the best in her new role.