Best Bets on Finding Articles
Get started with these databases in your searches for scholarly research in philosophy.
-
Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new windowIndexes philosophy-related books and journal articles on epistemology, ethics, logic, metaphysics, and the philosophy of various disciplines. 1940-present.
-
JSTOR This link opens in a new windowAn archive of full-text academic journals and ebooks from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
Other resources
-
Cambridge Forum for Legal and Political PhilosophyComposed of faculty members and research students from the Faculties of Law, Philosophy, History, and Social & Political Sciences, its principal purpose is to promote research, discussion, and exchanges on various topics within legal and political philosophy.
-
The Daily IdeaContains an organized collection of links and resources on a wide range of philosophical topics.
-
Early Modern TextsFind versions of some classics of early modern philosophy, and a few from the 19th century, prepared with a view to making them easier to read while leaving intact the main arguments, doctrines, and lines of thought.
-
Georgetown Bioethics LibraryThe EthxWeb database contains journal articles, book chapters, bills, laws, court decisions, reports, books, audiovisuals, and news articles relating to bioethics and professional ethics covering 1974-2009.
-
Open Access PhilosophyWi-Phi’s mission is to introduce the public to the practice of philosophy through free, entertaining, and accessible videos featuring experts from around the world.
-
Philosophy Web ResourcesHippias is a peer-reviewed search engine that provides access to philosophy-related resources on the World-Wide Web.
-
Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyWhile this is a free resource, the articles are written by known scholars and are reviewed by an editorial board before being published online.
-
Internet Encyclopedia of PhilosophyThe Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) (ISSN 2161-0002) was founded in 1995 to provide open access to detailed, scholarly, peer-reviewed information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy.
Books & eBooks
McKillop Library has an online library catalog so you can find books, e-books, videos and articles on your topic. Below are a few resources that might help get you started.
-
Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers by Call Number: e-bookPublication Date: 2005Includes both academic and non-academic philosophers, and a large number of female and minority thinkers whose work has been neglected. Each entry contains a short biography of the writer, an exposition and analysis of his or her doctrines and ideas, a bibliography of writings, and suggestions for further reading. -
The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy by Call Number: e-bookPublication Date: 2004Offers a comprehensive treatment of Western philosophy, incorporating articles by many leading philosophical authors. -
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy by Call Number: e-bookPublication Date: 2005Offers enlightening discussions of all aspects of philosophy, and of the lives and work of the great philosophers from antiquity to the present day. -
An Introduction to Metaphilosophy by Call Number: e-bookPublication Date: 2014What is philosophy? How should we do it? Why should we bother to? These are the kinds of questions addressed by metaphilosophy, the philosophical study of the nature of philosophy itself. This book takes readers through a full range of approaches: analytic versus Continental, scientistic versus humanistic, 'pure' versus applied enabling them to locate and understand these different ways of doing philosophy.
Catalog Search
Catalog Search - Try It Yourself
Search Tips
Whether you are searching on the library website or Google, most searches default to Keyword searches.
A Keyword search looks for words anywhere in the title, summary, content, or metadata of an item. Keyword searches are a good substitute for a subject search when you do not know the standard subject heading. Keyword may also be used as a substitute for a title or author search when you have incomplete title or author information.
- Use this type of search technique when you are getting a feel for your topic and you are finding general information on a topic or subject.
- For example: a keyword search for "Thomas Jefferson" will give you results for items about and written by him. If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas."
- As you search for information on your topic you will develop your own vocabulary and terms related your topic. Keeping track of searches that worked well or create lists of synonyms of your keywords to improve your searching.
This search looks for the name of the author, editor, creator, or translator of an item.
- Use this search when you know the name of the author, editor, creator, or translator of a item.
- Tip: search last name, first name, for example "Jefferson, Thomas." If you don't find the author you are looking for, try a keyword search instead. Be mindful of aliases for example: Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens are the same person. Similarly with Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or Biggie.
- Tip: States, institutions or museums can be listed as authors. Try searching a state, institution, or museums to see what they have published. For example: Rhode Island, Harvard University, American National Red Cross, or Boston Museum of Fine Art.
- If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas." If you enter a name as a subject, the items you see in the search results will be about them, not necessarily written by them. A keyword search will return anything containing the name "Thomas Jefferson".
This search looks for the exact words you entered as the title of an item. If you don't know the exact title, try using a Keyword Search instead.
- Use this when you know the exact title of a book, exhibition catalog, or journal.
A subject search is more specific than a keyword search. Subject headings are a predetermined list of possible terms, which reflect the content of the item. Most academic libraries use Library of Congress Subject Headings. Subject headings are not always intuitive.
- Use this type of search when you want to find information which reflects the about-ness of a topic.
- If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas." If you enter a name as a subject, the items you see in the search results will be about them, not necessarily written by them. A keyword search will return anything containing the name "Thomas Jefferson".
*Subject searching is found on advanced search page