The International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP) is the world’s most important non-governmental philosophy organization, having been created, in particular, to represent the field before UNESCO. FISP was created in August 1948, in Amsterdam, within the scope of the X International Congress of Philosophy, with its name in French, Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie. Its creation resulted from an initiative of UNESCO, within which there is a Conseil International de la Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines (CIPSH).

As stated in article 2 of its statutes, we can highlight, among the objectives of FISP, the following: to contribute directly to the development of professional relations and the exchange of ideas between philosophers of all countries, freely and with mutual respect; to facilitate relations between philosophers of different countries whenever it is useful or necessary to have recourse to international cooperation; to foster contacts between institutions, societies and periodical publications devoted to philosophy; to sponsor every five years (in the normal course of events) a World Congress of Philosophy and to promote other smaller conferences and meetings of an international character in diverse parts of the world.

Since it was necessary to create, before UNESCO, an international representation of philosophical societies, and not of individuals, the institutional body of FISP was developed from previous international articulations. Its rich history can be seen in AGAZZI, Evandro. “A Short History of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP)”, 2003: https://www.fisp.org/history

The list of national societies represented by FISP can be found on the link: https://www.fisp.org/national-members

The list of international societies is on the link: https://www.fisp.org/international-members

The list of affiliated organizations is on the link: https://www.fisp.org/affiliates

The most recent World Congress was held in Rome, and the FISP assembly decided the next World Congress would be held in Tokyo in 2028. At the same assembly, the new members of the FISP Directing Committee were elected. As the administrative body of the FISP, their role is to supervise the execution of the Federation’s activities, in addition to eventually making more general decisions, should the FISP assembly be unable to meet.

The current composition of the Committee, whose forty members were nominated by national societies and voted in the FISP assembly, includes representatives from the following countries, in varying numbers per country: Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Romania, Spain, Thailand, United States. The committee is a significant sample of the broad range of institutions and philosophical interests housed in the Federation. The composition and brief curricula of the members of the Directing Committee and also of the FISP Board of Directors, who shall be in Salvador, are available at the link: https://www.fisp.org/board-and-steering-committee