Getting to Know Your Topic
Specialized reference sources--like dictionaries and subject encyclopedias, provide overviews of topics and descriptions of concepts and ideas. They can also provide definitions, statistics, and other details. You can use this type of source to help narrow your research topic, find data to support your thesis, and identify keywords and main ideas to use as search terms.
The sources mentioned here normally also include bibliographies written by experts, which can provide a direct introduction to the important scholarly literature.
Online Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
Online Encyclopedias and Dictionaries:
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New Dictionary of the History of Ideas by "From abolitionism to Zionism, this encyclopedia clarifies the intellectual history of more than 750 complex ideas of concern to people today. Like its classic predecessor, the Dictionary of the History of Ideas (1973), this new set covers core Western ideas, while expanding its coverage to include the 'global perspectives and gender-inclusive' concepts that have evolved in the past 30 years. Reader's guides, cross-references, sidebars, and an index aid the reader in understanding the way ideas combine with other ideas."--"Reference that rocks," American Libraries, May 2005.ISBN: 0684314525Publication Date: 2004-12-01 -
The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy by This best-selling dictionary is written by one of the most famous philosophers of our time, and it is widely recognized as the best dictionary of its kind. Comprehensive and authoritative, it covers every aspect of philosophy from Aristotle to Zen. With clear and concise definitions, itprovides lively and accessible coverage of not only Western philosophical traditions, but also themes from Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophy.Entries include over 500 biographies of famous and influential philosophers, in-depth analysis of philosophical terms and concepts, and a chronology of philosophical events stretching from 10,000 BC to the present day. The first edition of this dictionary became a market-leader and a standard workof reference, selling over 100,000 copies. Now the author, Professor Simon Blackburn, has revised it to include web links which provide up-to-date and valuable extra information via the Dictionary of Philosophy companion website.Fully cross-referenced and containing over 3,000 alphabetical entries, it is the ideal introduction to philosophy for anyone with an interest in the subject, and it is an indispensable work of reference for students and teachers.Call Number: B41 .B53ISBN: 9780199541430Publication Date: 2008-10-02
New at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a collaborative website whose contributors are all experts in the field of philosophy. This resource is great for bibliographies and an overview of what's known. Below is a continuously updated list of newly published or edited articles.
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Special Topics in Philosophy
Special Topics in Philosophy:
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The Blackwell Guide to American Philosophy The Blackwell Guide to American Philosophy offers the most ambitious survey to date of American philosophical thought. Provides a comprehensive history of philosophical thought in America. Brings together 24 newly commissioned essays written by leading scholars in American philosophy. Covers all of the major eighteenth-, nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophical movements in America including idealism, pragmatism and naturalism. Examines the major figures and themes in American philosophical thought. Includes useful bibliographies.Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780631216223Publication Date: 2004-02-13 -
Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy The Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy is a unique one-volume reference work which makes a broad range of richly varied philosophical, ethical and theological traditions accessible to a wide audience. The Companion is divided into six sections covering the main traditions within Asian thought: Persian; Indian; Buddhist; Chinese; Japanese; and Islamic philosophy. Each section contains a collection of chapters which provide comprehensive coverage of the origins of the tradition, its approaches to, for example, logic and languages, and to questions of morals and society. The chapters also contain useful histories of the lives of the key influential thinkers, as well as a thorough analysis of the current trends.Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780415240383Publication Date: 2000-10-17 -
The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy This single-volume reference guide covers the most important authors and movements in Continental Philosophy. Each section focuses on a school of thought, bringing together articles by leading scholars which explore the key thinkers and texts. Arranged in chronological order, the volume begins with the founding texts of Classical Idealism and concludes with Post-structuralism.Sections and Section Editors: Classical Idealism - Philip Stratton-LakePhilosophy of Existence - Lewis R. GordonPhilosophies of Life and Understanding - Fiona HughesPhenomenology - Gail WeissPolitics, Psychoanalysis and Science - Gillian HowieThe Frankfurt School and Critical Theory - Simon JarvisStructuralism - Jeremy JenningsPost-Structuralism - John ProteviCall Number: EbookISBN: 9780748607839Publication Date: 1999-02-08 -
The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics The first reference of its kind, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics was originally published in 1998 in four volumes. Now expanded to include over 800 entries, the Encyclopedia surveys the full breadth of critical thought on art, culture, and society, from classical philosophy to contemporary criticaltheory. Contributors as prominent as Arthur C. Danto and John Hollander provide analyses of the major philosophers and artists whose works have impacted Aesthetics; of theories and trends such as Conceptualism and Postcolonialism; and of concepts ranging from the abject to synthesia.The field of Aesthetics is an evolving one, and as such the Encyclopedia has been updated and expanded, creating a six-volume second edition with enhanced or new coverage of international aesthetics, modern aesthetics, new media, and new fields of research such as geoaesthetics and neuroaesthetics.Featuring 815 articles by distinguished scholars from many fields and countries, the Encyclopedia is a comprehensive survey of major concepts, thinkers, and debates about the meaning, uses, and value of the arts - from painting and sculpture to literature, music, theater, textiles, dance,television, film, and sound art.Of special interest are in-depth surveys of Western aesthetics and broad coverage of non-Western traditions (e.g., Buddhist and Sanskrit Aesthetics). Over 250 new entries have been added altogether, with the first edition's editor-in-chief, Professor Michael Kelly of the University of North Carolinaat Charlotte, overseeing the updates and expansion.
Michael Kelly. (Editor-In-Chief); Malcolm Budd (Contribution by); Whitney Davis (Contribution by); Edward Dimendberg (Contribution by); Daniel Herwitz (Contribution by); Gregg Horowitz (Contribution by); Catherine Soussloff (Contribution by)Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780199747108Publication Date: 2014-07-02 -
Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy Examines the philosophical and ethical issues underlying contemporary and historical environmental issues, policies, and debates.Call Number: EbookISBN: 0028661370Publication Date: 2008-10-15 -
Encyclopedia of Ethics The editors, working with a team of 325 renowned authorities in the field of ethics, have revised, expanded and updated this classic encyclopedia. Along with the addition of 150 new entries, all of the original articles have been newly peer-reviewed and revised, bibliographies have been updated throughout, and the overall design of the work has been enhanced for easier access to cross-references and other reference features. New entries include * Cheating * Dirty hands * Gay ethics * Holocaust * Journalism * Political correctness * and many more.
Lawrence C. Becker (Editor); Charlotte B. Becker (Editor)Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780415936729Publication Date: 2001-08-31 -
Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy Research on medieval philosophy has advanced greatly in the last thirty years, but there has not been a comprehensive encyclopedia summarizing the current research available. This two-volume reference work fills that void. The Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy covers all areas of philosophy in the Middle Ages and part of the Renaissance, ranging from 500 to 1500 CE. It contains general entries on medieval philosophers and medieval philosophies and on the key terms and concepts in the subject area, but it also provides more in-depth details and analyses of particular theories. Furthermore, in order to gain an insight into the social and cultural context of the material, entries are included on the teaching of philosophy, the career of philosophers, and the place of philosophy within the universities. Complete with cross-references between key words and related essays to enable efficient searches, this Encyclopedia is exhaustive, unprecedented, and user-friendly. It is indispensable for scholars of medieval philosophy and of the history of ideas, and it is also useful for anyone interested in medieval ideas and thought.
Henrik Lagerlund (Editor)Call Number: EbookISBN: 9781402097287Publication Date: 2010-12-07 -
Handbook of Philosophical Logic It is with great pleasure that we are presenting to the community the second edition of this extraordinary handbook. It has been over 15 years since the publication of the first edition and there have been great changes in the landscape of philosophical logic since then. The first edition has proved invaluable to generations of students and researchers in formal philosophy and language, as weIl as to consumers of logic in many applied areas. The main logic artiele in the Encyelopaedia Britannica 1999 has described the first edition as 'the best starting point for exploring any of the topics in logic'. We are confident that the second edition will prove to be just as good. ! The first edition was the second handbook published for the logic commu nity. It followed the North Holland one volume Handbook 0/ Mathematical Logic, published in 1977, edited by the late Jon Barwise. The four volume Handbook 0/ Philosophical Logic, published 1983-1989 came at a fortunate at the evolution of logic. This was the time when logic temporal junction was gaining ground in computer science and artificial intelligence cireles. These areas were under increasing commercial pressure to provide devices which help andjor replace the human in his daily activity. This pressure required the use of logic in the modelling of human activity and organisa tion on the one hand and to provide the theoretical basis for the computer program constructs on the other.
D. M. Gabbay (Editor); F. Guenthner (Editor)Call Number: EbookISBN: 9048157536Publication Date: 2007 -
The Routledge Companion to Epistemology Epistemology, the philosophy of knowledge, is at the core of many of the central debates and issues in philosophy, interrogating the notions of truth, objectivity, trust, belief and perception.Call Number: BD161 .R69 2011 (5th Floor) -
Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Language Philosophy of language is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature of meaning, the relationship of language to reality, and the ways in which we use, learn, and understand language.Call Number: EbookPublication Date: 2011
