Library Resources in Philosophy

The philosophy collection is one of the oldest collections in the library. There is excellent coverage of the scholarly works in major European languages in all branches of philosophy and Anglo-American, French, German, and most Continental philosophers are well represented in vernacular and English languages.

For more information about the types of resources available in the Philosophy Collection, see our Collection Development Policy.

Reference & Selector Contact Information

Boaz Nadav-Manes
Philosophy Selector

Boaz Nadav-Manes is the Philosophy selector. If you have any question about library collections, policies, or services, please write or call Boaz. His telephone number is 255-5762, and his e-mail address is btn3@cornell.edu.

If you would like to request a book or a journal for the library collection, please fill out the online Purchase Request form, or contact Boaz.

Tony Cosgrave
Reference Liaison

109 Uris Library
(607) 255-7148
ajc5@cornell.edu

If you have any questions about library services, policies, resources, or any other aspect of the library please feel free to write or call Wanda or Tony. One of them will make sure your question is addressed and answered.

Library Instruction & Research Consultations for Philosophy

The digital revolution has made an enormous amount of information available to researchers in Philosophy, but discovering resources and using them effectively an be challenging, both for incoming first-year students and seasoned scholars.

The library provides instruction in using its resources for classes from first-year to graduate-level seminars.

The following are research guides for course-specific classes in philosophy that the Research & Learning Services staff has taught:

Philosophical Problems: Science and Objectivity
Philosophy 1111 - Fall 2009
Global Poverty and Duties of Aid
Philosophy 100.1 - Fall 2006

Faculty: If you would like to arrange for a course-specific library instruction session, please fill out the online Instruction Session Request Form.

Students and other Cornell-affiliated patrons: If you would like to arrange for an individual research consultation, please fill out the online Consultation Session Request Form.

Philosophy Encyclopedias Online

Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan, 2006.
(online version; print version: Olin Ref B 51 .E56 2006 +)

The second edition has a global perspective, containing more than 2,100 entries, including African, Islamic, Jewish, Russian, Chinese, and Buddhist philosophies; bioethics and biomedical ethics; art and aesthetics; epistemology; metaphysics; peace and war; social and political philosophy; the Holocaust; and feminist thought.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Routledge, 2000- .
(online version; print version: Olin Ref B 51 .R68 1998)

More than 2,000 articles. The online edition is continually updated and revised. The premier encyclopedia of philosophy.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 1997- .

Available only online. A dynamic encyclopedia widely used by philosopy faculty and students. Scholars are constantly adding new articles and updating existing ones. You can look at the latest articles added to the encyclopedia.

Selected Philosophy Databases

International Philosophical Bibliography
Available through Database Names, or the Library Catalog

The present bibliography is the successor of, on the one hand, the Répertoire bibliographique de la philosophie, which has appeared quarterly since May 1934 as a supplement of the Revue néoscolastique de philosophie (renamed Revue philosophique de Louvain, in 1946), and, on the other, of the Bibliografisch Repertorium van de Wijsbegeerte, which has appeared as part of the Tijdschrift voor Filosofie, since 1939. The bibliography is published by the Institut Supérieur de Philosophie (Université Catholique de Louvain) and the Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven).

JSTOR - Advanced Search
Available through Database Names, or the Library Catalog

The Advanced Search function in JSTOR allows you to limit your searching to philosophy journals only. JSTOR's "moving wall" omits the most recent 3 to 6 years of journal issues. Use the other databases in this section to access recent journal articles.

Oxford Scholarship Online - Philosophy
Available through Database Names, or the Library Catalog

Oxford Scholarship Online is a cross-searchable library containing the full text of over 1,350 Oxford books. Specially-commissioned abstracts and keywords are available at book and chapter level, and up to 200 new and recently-published books are added each year.

Philosopher's Index
Available through Database Names, or the Library Catalog

Provides indexing and abstracts from books and many journals on philosophy and related interdisciplinary fields published in the U.S. and the Western World. Coverage is from 1940 to the present for U.S. materials, and 1967 to the present for non-U.S. references.

Philosophy Online Serials (POIESIS)
Available through Database Names, or the Library Catalog

Full-text online access to a growing number of philosophy journals, including articles, book reviews, footnotes, announcements, and notices. More than 60 journals have been licensed for the project and the database will ultimately contain 100 philosophy journals and UMI's collection of philosophy dissertation abstracts.

Library Research Guide for Philosophy

A more detailed bibliography of information resources in philosophy is available in the Philosophy Research Guide which categorizes and annotates philosophy information resources, primarily from Cornell Library reference collections. Included are encyclopedias, handbooks, guides, bibliographies, dictionaries, almanacs, print indexes, online databases, and more.

Go to Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell.

Last Updated: 25 September 2009 (moe)
Wanda Wawro, Tony Cosgrave

Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, okucirc@cornell.edu