This contributed-papers volume is the first volume of essays from the PSA 2008 program. The vast majority of the work in putting together this volume fell to the program committee. The members of this committee began the adjudication process with over 200 submitted papers and went through two rounds of selection, first for the program and then for this volume. Throughout, they all worked diligently and in good humor. So, I would like to thank Ken Aizawa, Rachel Ankeny, Davis Baird, Paul Bartha, Anjan Chakravartty, Hasok Chang, Sharyn Clough, Carla Fehr, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Brad Monton, Mark Risjord, Laura Ruetsche, Kyle Stanford, Friedrich Steinle, and Peter Vranas.

Throughout the adjudication process I was aided by the wise counsel of Miriam Solomon. What went right in the process was largely due to her; her interventions made this is a more enjoyable and more thankful task. The past and current executive secretaries of the PSA—George Gale and Gary Hardcastle—provided me with timely advice and financial aid. Gary also provided an illuminating and lively e-mail correspondence. Former journal editor Michael Dickson supplied the means to prosecute the adjudication process, and current editor Jeff Barrett has overseen the final process of bringing the issue together; I thank them and their production teams. At the University of British Columbia, I was aided by three research assistants, Yuichi Amitani, Alirio Rosales, and Roger Stanev, without whom my job would have been impossible.

What makes the very labor-intensive job of the program chair worthwhile, finally, is the quality of the program and the published volumes. So, I thank the authors of the papers in this volume for the philosophically rich research and learning that kept me going throughout the process.