September 1988 (Amended June 2010)
- The name of the SOCIETY shall be the BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE.
- The purpose of the SOCIETY is to study the logic, the methods, and the philosophy of science, as well as those of the various special sciences, including the social sciences.
- Members of the SOCIETY who were Foundation Members of the former Philosophy of Science Group shall be Foundation Members of the SOCIETY.
- Ordinary Membership shall be open to all interested persons on payment of the annual subscription: provided that persons who have had their membership of the SOCIETY terminated under rule 16 hereof may be re-admitted to membership only by approval of the Committee.
- The management of the SOCIETY shall be directed by a Committee consisting of the Officers (namely, the President, the President-Elect or a Vice-President, the Honorary Secretary and the Honorary Treasurer) and four other Members to be known as Ordinary Members of the Committee. The Society shall have power to institute further Offices. Any Regional Group which is recognized by the Committee shall have the right to nominate a full Member of the SOCIETY as its representative on the Committee.
- A General Meeting of the SOCIETY shall be held each year at which the following business shall be transacted:
- The Committee shall submit a report on the activities of the SOCIETY during the past year.
- The annual accounts shall be presented.
- The election of the Committee for the ensuing year shall take place.
- Any other business shall be transacted which according to the rules of the SOCIETY shall take place only at an Annual General Meeting.
- The Offices of the President, Vice-President and President-Elect shall be governed by the following rules:
- The President’s term of Office shall be two years. An ex-President shall be ineligible for four years after his/her retirement for the Office of President or President-Elect.
- All ex-Chairmen of the former Philosophy of Science Group and all ex-Presidents of the SOCIETY shall be Vice-President for life.
- The retiring President shall be a member of the Committee for one year after his/her retirement.
- At the end of the first year of a President’s term of Office, and assuming that he/she wishes to complete his/her two-year term, the SOCIETY shall elect a President-Elect. The President-Elect shall be a member of the Committee for one year, after which he/she shall automatically become President and be entitled to serve as President for two years without further election.
- Should the President have declared before assuming Office that he/she will remain in Office for one year only, then a President-Elect shall be elected at the beginning of the President’s one-year term and shall automatically become President when the existing President retires.
- In circumstances not provided for by the Constitution in which the cycle of President-Elect, President and Vice-President is disturbed, the Committee shall take appropriate steps to re-establish the cycle as soon as possible, and shall report its action to the next Annual General Meeting.
- The President and all Vice-Presidents and the President-Elect when there is one shall collectively constitute the Council of the SOCIETY. Any member of the Council may bring any matter to the attention of the Committee. The Committee may at any time seek advice from some or all members of the Council. Responsibility for the management of the SOCIETY shall remain as defined by Rule 5 above.
- The Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer shall each be elected for one year and may be re-elected but normally no one person shall perform the duties of either Honorary Secretary or Honorary Treasurer for more than four years consecutively.
- Each of the four Ordinary Members of the Committee shall be elected for three years after which he/she shall not be eligible for re-election in that capacity until a year has elapsed since his/her retirement. An Ordinary Member’s term may be extended by the Committee for not more than one year, but only in order to avoid the election of more than two Ordinary Members of the Committee in any one year.
- Nominations for Officers and Members of the Committee must be signed by at least five Members and must be in the hands of the Honorary Secretary at least four weeks before the Annual General Meeting. Members must be sent a reminder of the last date for nominations at least three weeks before that date.
- Election for any vacancy shall be by ballot if there is more than one candidate for that vacancy. A list of nominations shall be sent to members at least two weeks before the Annual General Meeting. Voting shall take place at the Annual General Meeting. Members who are not attending the AGM will be able to cast their vote by contacting the secretary.
- The Agenda of the Annual General Meeting shall be sent to Members at least ten days before the Meeting.
- The Committee shall have power to fill vacancies in its number and to fill any vacant Offices until the next Annual General Meeting. Members brought on to the Committee in this way shall each have a vote on the Committee. The Committee shall have the power to co-opt additional members, but such co-opted members shall have no vote. All co-options shall be reported to the SOCIETY at its next meeting.
- The Committee shall appoint the Editor of the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. The Editor’s period of office shall be three years, but he/she shall be eligible for renomination for not more than two further periods of three years.
- The subscription to Ordinary Membership of the SOCIETY shall be decided at a General Meeting. Honorary Members elected by the SOCIETY shall pay no subscription.
- Persons wishing to become members shall do so on payment of his/her first subscription.
- A first subscription paid between 1 January and 30 June of any year shall cover membership from 1 January of that year to 31 December of that year. A first subscription paid between 1 July and 31 December of any year shall cover membership until 31 December of the year following that one.
- Subsequent subscriptions, to cover membership from 1 January to 31 December of any year, shall be payable on demand not earlier than September of the preceding year.
- The Committee shall have the right, for good and sufficient reason, to terminate the membership of any person: provided that the person shall have the right to attend and be heard by the Committee (save in those cases where the membership subscription is in arrears) before the decision is made.
- No alteration shall be made in this Constitution and in these Rules except at an Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting called upon the request of at least five members. One month’s previous notice of the alteration proposed must be given in writing to the Honorary Secretary and such alteration must be sent to Members at least ten days in advance of such Meeting and approved by at least three-fourths of the Members present at the meeting. Provided that no alterations to clauses 4, 18 or this clause shall take effect until the approval in writing of the Charity Commissioners or other authority having charitable jurisdiction shall have been obtained and no alteration shall be made which would have the effect of causing the SOCIETY to cease to be a charity at law.
- If for any reason the Committee decides that it is necessary or desirable to dissolve the SOCIETY, any assets remaining after the satisfaction of any proper debts and liabilities shall be applied towards charitable purposes of a like nature.
