Aporias Lasting Legacy

As an undergraduate philosophy student at BYU, Professor David Laraway (Hispanic Literature, Philosophy of Art) had no idea the journal he and other students created to showcase their work would become a lasting tradition. Yet more than three decades and dozens of student editors later, the

undergraduate journal for philosophy is not only still standing, but its also providing a unique experience for students worldwide to engage in thought-provoking discussion.

The year was 1991 when Laraway and a few other philosophy students had the idea to start their own journal. They felt they were writing strong and engaging papers in their philosophy classes, but they knew nobody except their professors would ever read them. We thought it would be nice if we had a way of sharing the work that we were doing, he says.

Laraway and a few other students approached James Faulconer, the Philosophy Department chair at the time, with a proposal to create a journal featuring student work, and Faulconer approved. Another professor, Dan Graham, suggested that Laraway and the other three founding editors title the journal

, which, in simple terms, represents a state of puzzlement. This title reflected the profound ideas the editors hoped to explore in their writing while also acknowledging their limitations as young philosophers.

With approval from Faulconer and a title from Graham, the students got to work and the journal took off. By the end of winter semester in 1991, the first edition rolled off the press, and

was born.

As an undergraduate student, Assistant Professor Mike Hansen (Rationalism, Philosophy of Mind, and Epistemology) worked as an editor for

Today, hes the faculty advisor for the journal. Hansen guides students throughout the editorial process, but he says they lead most of the production from start to finish. My guiding principle is that the undergraduates are making as many of the choices as possible, says Hansen.

Each semester, the journal sends out a call for submissions to undergraduates throughout the English-speaking world. The student editors then read submissions, select which ones to publish, and collaborate with authors to edit their work, which can cover a wide variety of philosophical topics. During the early years of the journal, papers were written solely by BYU students, but today,

publishes papers from students across the country and even overseas. The most recent issue, for example, features work from students in Scotland, England, and Australia.

Once each paper is finalized, the journal is published and sent out to readers all over the world. As

s reach expands, Hansen says the student-led journal speaks to the philosophy programs impact beyond campus, a growing presence made possible by the students who keep

running. Our student editors are really fantastic, says Hansen.

Rebekah Welling (Philosophy, German 26) first learned about

during her freshman year when she saw an ad on the departments website. Now, shes in her third year working on the staff. Welling values the opportunity to improve her own writing as she reads some of the best work from students around the world. The longer youre on the staff, the more you get a feel for which papers have good writing, she says. Being an editor has helped Welling recognize the qualities of a strong paper and apply that to her own work.

Aside from learning skills relevant to her field of study, Welling says joining the staff has helped her get to know other philosophy students. It really knits you together, she says. She enjoys meeting with the other editors not only to produce a journal but also to bond as fellow students of philosophy. Its a really fun time, says Welling.

Laraway says working on the journal as an undergraduate helped him become familiar with the publishing process, which ended up being really helpful for me when it came time to publish my own professional articles, he says. It really does give you an advantage.

After the first edition of

was published in 1991, Laraway and his fellow editors were hoping to have enough funding to produce a second. We had no idea that it would continue on, he says. Now, I guess its been 35 years. Looking back, Laraway is grateful to have been a part of

and remains optimistic for what lies ahead for the journal. We hope it remains a tradition at BYU for a long time.

Read the latest edition of

here.