ALEF was founded by some students of the University of Bologna in May 1998. ALEF is an independent association of philosophy, its aim is to promote discussion about philosophical themes.

Founders' philosophical interests range over logic, history and philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, history and philosophy of science. Yet ALEF's main purpose is to promote discussions and debates about any philosophical subject among students, teachers and anyone interested.

Complementarily to other academic activities, ALEF's project consists in the periodical practice of workshops, seminars and conferences together with an interdisciplinary approach aimed at holding dialogue between philosophy and other branches of knowledge (both scientific and literary).