In 1935 Alban Gregory Widgery, then chair of the Philosophy Department at Duke University, founded the North Carolina Philosophical Society. Perhaps the earliest public notice of its existence is an announcement of its fifth meeting:*
The Fifth Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Philosophical Society took place at Meredith College, April 29, 1939. The subject of the meeting was “Religion and the Philosophy of Religion in the College Curriculum.” The following papers were read: A General Appraisal of Conditions: J. L. Peacock; The Place of Philosophy in the Curriculum: B. A. Wentz; Religion and the Philosophy of Religion in the Curriculum: P. E. Williams; The Nature and Methodology of a Modern Philosophy of Religion: A. G. Widgery; The Nature of Religious Knowledge: George Thomas.
Meetings were suspended because of the war, but in 1951, a society of the same name was established as a successor to, though not officially the same society as, the earlier version.** It’s this second NCPS that persists to the present day.
The NCPS holds an annual conference, usually in February or March. The society maintains no membership list and collects no dues, but is supported by a nominal registration fee from attendees at its annual meeting. Since 1998, it has met jointly with the South Carolina Society for Philosophy in even-numbered years (excepting 2014 and 2020).
The call for papers can be found on this website in the summer or fall and will be announced on the listserv. For more information, please contact one of the officers.
*The Journal of Philosophy 36 (1939): 392.
**Lewis White Beck, “Alban Gregory Widgery 1887-1968”, Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 41 (1967-68): 138-40.
