Introduction: The status of fundamental principles in philosophy

Abstract This short piece introduces the present issue of the Southern Journal of Philosophy , which is devoted to the 42nd Annual Spindel Conference held at the University of Memphis in October 2024. This year's Spindel Conference was on the topic “The Status of Fundamental Principles in Philosophy.” At first pass, the type of principles at stake are things like the principles of noncontradiction, excluded middle, identity, sufficient reason, and the identity of indiscernibles. Yet a question raised at the conference is whether there are or should be other such principles ‐ perhaps ones not available within the traditional Western canon ‐ and whether plausible first principles are historically or culturally contingent or, rather, are (or should be) universal for all philosophical and scientific discourse. The articles contained herein address debates about the metaphysical and ontological status of such principles (as a group and individually), the relations among them, whether they are indeed first, foundational principles or must rather be situated within one form or another of anti‐foundationalism, what domains they should apply to, and whether, to what extent, or under what modifications they should govern philosophical methodology.