Robbins Library Notes

Even in today’s electronic world, not everything of value for philosophical research is online, pace Bill Gates et al. Many great resources exist, for a variety of reasons, only in print format, and they should not be ignored when you are doing research.

One such resource is the encyclopedia. While many do exist now both in print and electronic format, it is not always possible to have both formats on hand for reasons of cost — an issue that plagues even Harvard.

In any event, there are several good philosophy encyclopedias that are worth consulting. I’ll note them below, along with their call numbers (where available), and offer some comments on each.

Encyclopedia of Philosophy (10 vols.)

Call Number: B 51.E53 2006

Comments: This is the second edition of this classic reference work, which is an excellent place to get information about philosophy from an analytic perspective. A number of new articles were added into the second edition, along with emendations to earlier articles and updated bibliographies, to reflect new interests and developments since the original 1967 publication and the 1996 supplement.

We do not have electronic access to this encyclopedia at present, as the cost per annum is high.

Greek Thought: A Guide to Classical Knowledge

Call Number: DF 78 .S2813 2000

Comments: While this is not an encyclopedia per se, it does have the form of one, and is an excellent source of information about classical philosophy, science, mathematics, logic, and art. Individual articles are in-depth and signed, covering both persons (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras) and topics (e.g., Politics, Physics, Rhetoric).

Philosophy Compass

Comments: This is a new Blackwell product, to which Harvard does not currently subscribe. As the Web site notes, “Unique in both range and approach, Philosophy Compass publishes peer-reviewed surveys of the most important research and current thinking from across the entire discipline.” At present, from what I have been hearing, the quality of the materials on the Compass is low, though improving. We may subscribe to the Compass in the future, though I cannot make any promises. If you do think this is something to which we should subscribe, please let me know, so that I can pass this information along.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (10 vols.)

Call number: B51 .R68 1998

Comments: The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an excellent contemporary encyclopedia of philosophy. It is worth checking out in conjunction with other encyclopedias and reference sources, to triangulate information and get the broadest picture possible on a topic or figure.

As with the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, we do not have electronic access to this encyclopedia at present, given the high annual subscription rate.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Comments: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a free, online-only encyclopedia of philosophy. Articles are signed — written by top scholars, they are update every few years, to reflect current scholarship and developments.

The Philosophy of Science: An Encyclopedia (2 vols.)

Call Number: Q 174.7.P55 2006

Comments: This is a small, two-volume encyclopedia of the philosophy of science. The signed articles are short, but comprehensive, and have decent bibliographies.

Three things to note when using encyclopedias, and any print or electronic resource, by extension:

• No one encyclopedia is perfect or complete. What may be covered in-depth in one place may not even be addressed in another.
• Encyclopedias have their biases and slants. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, as I noted above, is written from an analytic perspective. On its own, such a perspective is neither good nor bad, but readers should be aware of this when looking at the entries, and read critically.
• All of which suggests that it’s a good idea to look at several encyclopedias when doing research, to triangulate your results, as I noted in Searching 101: Basic Guidelines.

If you have other print resources that you’d like me to review, please let me know. I’m thinking of looking at some historical overviews in the near future, like Scott Soames’ Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, along with the Cambridge History of Philosophy, 1870-1945 and others.