Two or three Michigan doctoral students serve each summer as Editors of the Philosopher’s Annual, which seeks to select the ten best articles published in philosophy each year. Since 2012, the fifth year of the partnership between Michigan and the Annual, funding for graduate student editors has been provided through the generosity of Richard and Carolyn Lineback and the Philosopher’s Information Center, publisher since 1967 of the Philosopher’s Index, a searchable database of nearly 700 journals from 50 countries.
Each year, the Philosopher’s Annual asks a range of prominent philosophers to serve as Nominating Editors, each suggesting three outstanding articles they have read during the year. A second round of feedback is then solicited regarding the list as a whole, resulting in a set of articles nominated and seconded as exceptional contributions to the philosophical literature for the previous year.
The job of the Michigan Editors is to select the best of a fine lot. Working with Patrick Grim, Founding Editor of the series, and on the basis of extensive reading and scrutiny, through days of argument and deliberation, they attempt to choose the “ten best” articles from those nominated. Their selection of outstanding articles from 2007 onwards are accessible online.
