The Society for Applied Philosophy (UK) was founded in 1975 with the aim of promoting philosophical study and research that has a direct bearing on areas of practical concern. It arose from an increasing awareness that many topics of public debate are capable of being illuminated by the critical, analytic approach characteristic of philosophy, and by direct consideration of questions of value. These topics come from a number of different areas of social life - law, politics, economics, science, technology, medicine and education are among the most obvious. The purpose of the SAP is foster and promote philosophical work that is intended to make a constructive contribution to problems in these areas. It does so through workshops, conferences, and lecture programmes.

In accordance with its constitution, the SAP is not allied to the ideology of any political party, social interest group, campaign or religion. Membership is open to anyone committed to the notion of human values that transcend narrow or local interests, classes and cultures, and to the identification, justification and discussion of these values as they apply to topics of public importance.

The Journal of Applied Philosophy, published by Blackwell on behalf of the Society is now well established as a major source of high quality work in this area. It publishes work from across the world on all topics falling under the label 'applied philosophy', broadly interpreted. The JAP is a refereed journal edited by Suzanne Uniacke (Hull University) and Alan Carter (University of Glasgow), with the assistance of an editorial board made up of the leading experts in the field.