Association Internationale des Professeurs de Philosophie

AIPPh is the legally institutionalized form of an association which began informally in Germany in 1948. AIPPH is made up of philosophers, teachers of philosophy at schools and universities, and persons interested in the philosophical intellectual life. It was formally established in 1974 according to Belgian law and meanwhile dissolved there. Now the association has been re-established according to German law.

(1) The association is called AIPPh (Association Internationale des Professeurs de Philosophie), Non-Profit Association for the promotion of philosophical education e.V.

(2) The association holds its seat in Düsseldorf (Germany) and is to be enlisted into the register of associations.

(1) The aim of the association is to promote the public and professional education of all people, especially philosophical education, according to the UNESCO declaration about philosophy made in 1995. The association regards as an objective the enabling of every person to learn self-dependent thinking and to express and listen to arguments. The association exists to foster the quality of teaching in schools and universities. Towards this end, it is engaged in building a platform for the international exchange of expertise and reflection on current societal topics. Concretely, this happens by teaching conceptions on new topics and/or methods that are presented by experts at conferences or in publications and/or are developed and discussed by the participants, at times under guidance, i.e. through technical and didactic training and reflection on appropriate areas of application.

(2) The aforementioned goal is carried out especially by organizing conferences devoted to topical philosophical issues and problems of implementation in teaching at schools and universities or at other public educational institutions – and also by regular written communication not only for members, but also for the interested public. In addition, the democratic idea for a humane co-existence is to be philosophically promoted. During conferences and publications (written messages to members also count as such), the members contribute their commitment by means of talks, translations, and essays. These are achieved by publications and within the agendas of congresses which are being organized in regular intervals and focus on the aforementioned areas.

A yearbook edited on behalf of the AIPPh also contributes to the achievements in the aforementioned areas. These publications are accessible to non-members in bookstores. Members receive a regular newsletter with current information about new developments in the subject, as well as notes on events that correspond to the goals in the statutes. Yearbooks and newsletters are free for members.

These objectives are to be financed through membership fees and voluntary donations.

(1) The association follows exclusively and immediately common public interest objectives in the sense of the passage regarding “tax-privileged goals” of the general fiscal law. The association acts selflessly and does not pursue in the first place its own commercial objectives. It is neutral in relation to political parties.

(2) The funds of the association can be used only for objectives that correspond to the statutes. The members do not receive any allocations from the funds of the association. The functions within the association are to be performed unsalaried.

No person is to be favoured by expenses that are foreign to the purposes of the association, or by disproportionately high remunerations.

In case of dissolution or annulment of the association or if tax-privileged purposes cease to exist, the assets of the association fall to the German Society for Philosophy (DGPhil) e. V. The person entitled to seizure must use the assets accruing to her/him directly and exclusively for charitable purposes.

(1) Physical persons of age or legal persons can become members of the association.

(2) The acquisition of the membership takes place by written request to the steering board, which decides on the acceptance.

(1) Membership expires by death, termination of legal personality, exit or exclusion from the association.

(2) Exits shall be communicated by written declaration to the steering board. The exit can only be declared at the end of a calendar year, with a notice period of three months.

(3) A member can be expelled from the association by the steering board which has to take a decision on this if the member

a) has not paid his/her annual fee despite a written reminder with a deadline of at least four weeks;

Before the decision on exclusion, the member should be given opportunity to comment. The exclusion decision is to be handed over in written form, provide reasons, and is to be sent to the member. The member can call the next upcoming General Assembly meeting against the exclusion. In this case, the member’s rights of the member to be excluded are being kept until the decision of the General Assembly.

(1) The members make an annual contribution according to self-assessment, the amount of which must not be lower than the minimal contribution to be determined by the General Assembly.

(2) The full annual fee is to be paid for the year of joining the association and the year of termination of membership.

(3) The steering board may, in justified individual cases, determine that the contribution is provided in different form from cash payment, or temporarily reduce or defer it.

§ 9 Organs of the association

The organs of the association are the extended executive board (steering board,) the authorized executive committee (board members that are entitled to represent the association in the meaning of § 26 BGB) and the General Assembly.

§ 10 Steering board

(1) The extended executive board (steering board) consists of at least 6, maximum 12 board members elected by the General Assembly. Provided no member objects, block voting is permitted.

(2) The Steering Board elects the president from its midst, two vice presidents, the treasurer and the secretary. The other board members help as assessors in fulfilling the statute purposes (for example with translations). The board gives itself its own rules of procedure.

(3) The association is represented judicially and extrajudicially by the president, the vice presidents, the secretary and the treasurer, where each represents the association individually (board in the meaning of §26 BGB). Internally it is determined that the vice presidents, the treasurer and the secretary can only make use of their right of representation if the president or the vice presidents are prevented from doing so.

(4) The steering board is elected by the General Assembly for a period of three years, counted from the moment of election. It remains in function until the election of a new steering board. If a member of the steering board resigns during the term of office, then the remaining steering board members can appoint a substitute member for the remainder of the term of office.

(5) The steering board is responsible for all affairs of the association, as far as they are not assigned to another association organ by the statutes or further mandatory statutory provisions. It conducts the current affairs of the association, in particular
a) preparation and implementation of fostering measures that support the goals of the association;
b) preparation and convening of meetings of the General Assembly;
c) execution of the resolutions of the General Assembly;
d) information of the members about association matters, in particular by issuing an annual report.

(6) The board generally takes its decisions in board meetings, which have to be convened by the president in writing, by telephone or by email with a notice period of one week, and have to be conducted by her/him; or if he/she is prevented, by a vice president. It achieves its quorum if at least two steering board members are present. When making decisions, the majority of valid votes is decisive.

In case of a tie, the vote of the meeting’s chairperson decides. A decision of the steering board can be taken by written mail if all members of the steering board declare consent to this procedure. A protocol is to be prepared about the resolutions of the steering board which is to be signed by the meeting’s chairperson.

(7) The steering board conducts its functions free of charge, but can receive reimbursement of necessary proven expenses and travel costs. It gives itself its own rules of procedure.

§11 The General Assembly

(1) The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the association. In the General Assembly, each member has one vote. The exercise of the right to vote may be assigned in writing to another member of the association. A member may not, however, represent more than three other members and execute their votes.

(2) The General Assembly is responsible for the following tasks:

a) receipt and approval of the annual report of the steering board;

b) discharge of the steering board and the cash auditors;

c) election and dismissal of the members of the steering board and the cash auditors;

d) fixing the amount of the annual contributions, in particular the minimal contribution;

e) decisions on the complaints against rejections of application for admission as well as on appealing against exclusions by the steering board;

f) appointment of honorary members;

(3) The convocation of the General Assembly is carried out by the president, and if (s)he is prevented, by one of the vice-presidents. The convocation must be carried out at least two weeks before the date of the meeting, specifying the agenda in writing or by mail. The period begins on the day after the invitation was sent out.

(4) At least one week before the day of the General Assembly, each member may apply for a supplement to the agenda with further matters by writing to the steering board, if no amendments to the statutes are concerned. The agenda must be supplemented accordingly at the beginning of the General Assembly by the chairperson of the meeting. The General Assembly decides on requests for supplements to the agenda that are offered only during the meeting.

(5) Each properly invited General Assembly is quorate and entitled to make decisions. The General Assembly passes resolutions by a simple majority of the votes cast, unless different majorities are prescribed by law or by these statutes of the association.

In case of a tie, the vote of the chairperson of the meeting decides. In elections, in case of a tie, the lot decides. The type of voting is determined by the chairperson of the meeting. In elections, it is necessary to vote in writing and secretly, provided the General Assembly does not decide on another type of vote.

(6) A protocol has to be set up at each General Assembly, which must be signed by the respective chairperson and the secretary.

§ 12 Fiscal year, cash auditors

(1) The fiscal year is the calendar year.

(2) The cash of the association is regularly audited by one or more cash auditors selected by the General Assembly. The auditors check whether the use of the association’s funds was in line with the budget estimates and the bookkeeping of the association was done properly. The cash auditors must make a report to the General Assembly.

§13 Changes to the statutes

(1) If an amendment to the statutes is planned, this must be announced and included as an agenda item in the invitation to the General Assembly meeting. A decision on the dissolution of the association can only be made in a General Assembly specifically convocated with this agenda. The dissolution of the association can only be decided at a general assembly convened specifically with this agenda.

(2) Any changes to the statutes of the association shall be made known to the responsible tax office by submitting the amended statutes in order to check their clearance.

(3) The statutes were established in the inaugural meeting of 2nd and 3rd November 2019

Signatures of 16 association members from 11 countries:
(Prof. Riccardo Sirello, Savona; Dr. Gabriele Osthoff-Münnix, Düsseldorf, Dr. Natascha Kienstra, Bilthoven; Prof. Aneta Karageorgieva, Sofia; Dr. Werner Busch, Melsdorf; Edgar und Gudrun Fuhrken, Kiel; Rolf Roew, Weilheim; Prof. Andrzej Kaniowski, Lodz; Prof. Hans Bringeland, Bergen; Jari Papunen, Oulo; Floris Velema, Rotterdam; Michael Zurwerra, Brig; Prof. Alexander Chumakov, Moskau; Dr. Barbora Badurova, Banstra Bystica; Zoran Kojcic, Osijec; Dr. Gisela Raupach-Strey, Berlin)

Association Internationale des Professeurs de Philosophie

Statutes of the AIPPh