William Phillips (November 14, 1907 – September 13, 2002) was an American editor, writer and public intellectual who co-founded Partisan Review.
Together with co-editor Philip Rahv, Phillips made Partisan Review into one of the foremost journals of politics, literature, and the arts, particularly from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Stirred by the new Marxist ideas, he turned to the Left; and in 1934 began attending meetings of the John Reed Club, a group of artists and writers associated with the international Communist movement.
In the 1950s, Lillian Hellman complained that Phillips had not spearheaded the defense of intellectuals who were investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee.
But Phillips also criticized writers and artists on the left who had been slow to recognize the Stalinist oppression of free expression and political dissent in the Soviet Union.
In 1969, Rahv resigned to start his own journal, and Phillips gained principal editorial control of Partisan Review, which he maintained until shortly before his death.