Theory and History of Ontology
by Raul Corazzon - e-mail: raul.corazzon[at]formalontology.it
For an overview see the Index of the Pages, the SITE MAP or the Alphabetical Index of the Philosophers: A-F - G-O - P-Z; You can also download this page as 
Table of Contemporary Ontologists 
(click on the image to see the PDF file)
Index of the Section: "Pathways to Western Philosophy"
General and Introductory Works (a selection of reference works on philosophy)
Formal and Descriptive Metaphysics (a brief guide to the introductory literature on metaphysics)
Formal and Descriptive Ontology (a brief guide to the introductory literature on ontology)
Philosophical Logic and the Philosophy of Logic (readings on some selected arguments)
Analytic Philosophy (introductory and historical works)
Phenomenology (introductory and historical works)
Preliminary note: The purpose of these pages is to give both the beginner and the more experienced reader a brief guide to the introductory literature on general philosophy, metaphysics, ontology, phenomenology, analytical philosophy, philosophical logic and the philosophy of logic..
In its initial form the pages will contain a selection of introductory readings, with brief annotations on the content (for the most important books, also the index will be included); subsequently these will be expanded to include more specific essays on selected problems. In the sections for beginners, preference will be given to those books more readily available. In other sections some books could be out of print; if your Library does not possess the volume, it may be possible to obtain it via interlibrary loan.
Every effort will be made to provide details that facilitate bibliographical research.
BOOK FOR BEGINNERS
If you want a first introduction to philosophy (not just ontology) you will find useful:
Strawson Peter Frederick. Analysis and metaphysics. An introduction to philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1992.
From the Preface: "I describe this book as an introduction to philosophy. It is introductory in two ways. First, it presupposes, on the part of its readers, no prior acquaintance with the subject. It should be capable of being understood without any such acquaintance. Second, it begins, not with the discussion of particulars problems, but with an account of the general nature of philosophy, as, in common with many other philosophers of our period, I conceive of and try to practise it. (There are of course, other legitimate conceptions.)This general account gradually merges into an attempt to show, in outline, how some of the major issues which arise in the connected fields of metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language can, and should, be resolved. Then, finally, two particular philosophical questions are chosen to be treated, in the concluding chapters, in greater illustrative detail. So the progression is from the global to the local, from the general to the specific, from the outline to the detail.
The book, then, may fairly be described as introductory. But, though introductory, it is not elementary. There is no such thing as elementary philosophy. There is no shallow end to the philosophical pool."
Contents: 1. Analytical philosophy: two analogies 2. reduction or connection? basic concepts 3. Moore and Quine 4. Logic, epistemology, ontology 5. Sensible experience and material objects 6. Classical empiricism. The inner and the outer. Action and society. 7 Truth and knowledge 8. Meaning and understanding: structural semantics 9. Causation and explanation 10. Freedom and necessity.
Hollis Martin. Invitation to philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 1997.
"In the revised and updated edition of this classic introductory text, Martin Hollis leads his readers through the age-old philosophical questions of free choice and human nature, appearance and reality, reason and experience, and to newer ones of rationality and morality, other minds and inner selves, and the relation between the natural and human worlds. Using theories and examples ranging from Plato, Descartes, Hume and Kant to T. S. Eliot and Sherlock Holmes, the author paints a delightfully vivid picture of the discipline that is a perfect start for students beginning courses in philosophy or for anyone meeting the subject for the first time."
Contents: Acknowledgements. 1. Wonder, Paradox and Vision. 2. Reasoning. Proof. Evidence. Scientific Method. 3. The Cave. 4. Ants, Spiders and Bees. 5. The Web of Belief. 6. The Elusive "I". 7. The Ring of Gyges. 8. The Common Good. 9. Robots, Apes and Angels. Further Reading. Index.
Scruton Roger. Modern philosophy. An introduction and survey. New York: Allen Lane Penguin Press 1996.
"This extensive survey of topics in modern philosophy as taught in English-speaking universities consists of two parts, about 500 and 100 pages, respectively. The former is the text that presents the ideas, theses, and arguments themselves; and the latter is a study guide that elucidates details, suggests topics for discussion, and names readings that expand the main text. The book is clearly written and well proportioned. By choosing sensibly which complexities to ignore, Scruton explains material no more technically and at no greater length than is necessary for nonprofessional readers to get the hang of it. Unfortunately, his penchant for making invidious remarks occasionally mars his exposition, but readers who inure themselves to this habit will cease to be distracted. Robert Hoffman, York Coll., CUNY" (Library Journal).
Fundamentals of philosophy. Edited by Shand John. London and New York: Routledge 2003.
From the Introduction: "This book is an accessible stimulating gateway to the central areas of philosophy. The chapters are carefully arranged to begin with what are usually regarded as the core areas of the subject and then extend out to other important subjects of less generality, not, one should emphasise, of less importance. The prime purpose of the chapters is not to give comprehensive coverage of each subject, but rather to open the door on the subject for the reader and encourage thought about all the ideas within. Someone once said to me that studying philosophy had 'opened doors'; if this book does that, it will have succeeded."
Contents: List of contributors IX; Preface XI; Introduction 1; 1. Alan Goldman: Epistemology 11; 2. Michael Jubien; Metaphysics 36; 3. Greg Restall: Logic 64; 4. Piers Benn: Ethics 94; 5. Suzanne Stern-Gillet: Ancient philosophy: from Thales to Aristotle 122; 6. Dermot Moran: Medieval philosophy: from Augustine to Nicholas of Cusa 155; 7. Richard Franks: Modern philosophy: the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 204; 8. Stephen Burwood: Philosophy of mind 234; 9. Alexander Miller: Philosophy of language 262; 10. Alexander Bird: Philosophy of science; 11: Dudley Knowles: Political philosophy 326; 12. Colin Lyas: Aesthetics 351; 13: W. Jay Wood: Philosophy of religion 377; 14. Simon Glendinning: Continental philosophy 408; Index: 443.
Philosophy 1: A guide through the subject. Edited by Grayling Anthony C. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995.
Contents: List of Contributors VIII; Editor's Introduction 1; 1. Epistemology by Scott Sturgeon, M. G. F. Martin, A. C. Grayling 7; 2. Philosophical logic by Mark Sainsbury 61; 3. Methodology the elements of the philosophy of science by David Papineau 123; 4. Metaphysics by Tim Crane and David Wiggins 181; 5. The philosophy of mind by Martin Davies 250; 6. Ancient Greek philosophy I: The Pre-Socratics and Plato by Christopher Janaway 336; 7. Ancient Greek philosophy II: Aristotle by Hugh Lawson-Tancred 398. 8. Modern philosophy I: The rationalists and Kant by Roger Scruton 440; 9. Modern philosophy II: The empiricists by A. C. Grayling 484; 10. Ethics by Bernard Williams 525; 11. Aesthetics by Sebastian Gardner 583; Index 629.
Philosophy 2: Further through the subject. Edited by Grayling Anthony C. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1998.
Contents: Notes on the Contributors VII; Editor's Introduction 1; 1. The philosophy of psychology by Ned Block 4; 2. The philosophy of language by Christopher Peacocke 72; 3. The philosophy of mathematics by Michael Dummett 122; 4. Philosophy and natural sciences by John Worrall 197; 5. The philosophy of religion by M. W. F. Stone 267; 6. Political philosophy by Alan Ryan 351; 7. The philosophy of social sciences by David-Hillel Ruben 420; 8. Later ancient philosophy by David Mitchell 470; 9. Medieval philosophy by Christopher Hughes 517; 10. Kant by Sebastian Gardner 574; 11. Continental philosophy from Hegel by Michael Rosen 663; 12. Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein by A. C. Grayling and Bernhard Weiss 705; 13. Indian philosophy by Paul Williams 793; Index 849.
Advanced Readings
A) BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INSTRUMENTS
The Philosopher's Index.
"Published from 1940. The premier international resource in philosophy, The Philosopher's Index is a bibliographic database with informative author-written abstracts covering scholarly research in the fifteen fields of philosophy, published in journals and books since 1940. The electronic version of The Philosopher's Index is available exclusively on OVID. 80% of the records are taken from journal articles, with the remaining 20% taken from books and contributions to anthologies. Over 480 journals are covered, from 38 countries, making The Philosopher's Index a truly international research tool.
The database cites works in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. It also includes complete coverage of international articles from anthologies and books written in English and other languages. Available also in CD-ROM."
International Philosophical Bibliography. Répertoire Bibliographique de la Philosophie.
From the Introduction: "The aim of the bibliography is to list philosophical literature as such; the adjective is understood rather strictly, with the result that scientific disciplines which are related to philosophy, and even the auxiliary sciences of philosophy, are not treated of in their own right; the increasing volume of this literature, plus the availability of specialized bibliographical guides to it, preclude the possibility of incorporating it into the bibliography. Only publications relating to the methods or the philosophy of the sciences, together with publications of a general nature relative to the objects treated of by these disciplines, are referred to. This rule applies particularly to the following disciplines: symbolic logic, linguistics, psychology, aesthetics and theology.
In principle, the bibliography is confined to philosophical literature published in the following languages: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan. The published works in other languages are only indicated in the cases where they are accompanied by a summary in one of the languages mentioned above."
Bibliographie de la philosophie: Bulletin trimestriel = Bibliography of philosophy: A quarterly bulletin. Paris: Vrin, (from 1954).
A current bibliography of books that is international in scope. Abstracts are included and written in the language of origin for most western languages and in English for other languages. Books are arranged by broad subject category. A cumulated index is provided at the end of year in the final volume of that year. Books can be searched using the following indexes: index of names, author index, titles, and title catchwords.
De George Richard. A guide to philosophical bibliography and research. New York: Appleton Century Crofts 1971.
From the Preface: "This book serves as a guide to the sources, bibliographies, and other tools of philosophical research -- -their existence, usefulness, and use. As a guide it makes no claim to being exhaustive. It does, however, contain a great deal of information that will be valuable not only to the student while in college or graduate school, but also to those who have embarked on a career in philosophy. Starting with dictionaries as sources of definition, it proceeds through encyclopedias, histories of philosophy, philosophical classics, bibliographical tools and specialized bibliographies, library and trade catalogs, philosophical journals, guides to writing and publishing, and biographical sources. It ends with information and works concerning philosophical professional life. It can serve as an introduction for the beginner who wishes to get an overview of the sources and tools of philosophical research, a guide for students writing papers and theses, and a handy reference manual for the teacher and professional.
Each chapter begins with a brief general introduction. Annotations have been added to those entries that are not self-explanatory and for which more information seemed desirable to help the reader evaluate the usefulness of the item listed. Value judgments have bear entered in a number of cases, but only when I have felt there was a consensus among scholars on the item in question. For the most part rare items, dated and superseded works, and bibliographies compiled before 1900 have bear omitted, unless they have been reprinted recently or are still of general use. By utilizing the specialized guides and bibliographies contained herein, the reader should be able to locate such unlisted specialized and older material with relative ease. "See also" references will lead the reader to additional items on a topic, and this device has bear used to avoid reprinting items that could correctly be listed under more than one heading. The Index is an author, subject, and title index and can be used as a means of unifying material on a topic or author which may be spread through various sections and chapters.
Since this guide was prepared primarily for English-speaking students and scholars, items in English are given fullest and most prominent treatment. Entries in other languages have -- with a certain few obvious exceptions -- been restricted to those written in French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. There are, however, abundant sources listed for locating works in other languages. Where the number of items in a section is considerable, and where appropriate, entries have been grouped by language."
Bynagle Hans Edward. Philosophy. A Guide to the Reference Literature. Westport: Libraries Unlimited 2006.
Third edition (first edition 1986; second edition 1997). From the Preface: "This guide to reference sources in philosophy has been compiled and written with a diversity of users in mind. It is intended for professional philosophers and teachers of philosophy; for students of philosophy at both undergraduate and graduate levels; for librarians, as an aid in reference service and collection development; and, to a lesser extent, for the general reader or inquirer who may come to philosophy with little of no background. Not everyone, needless to say, will be equally well served by every part of this guide, and that is undoubtedly true also of the work as a whole. Nonetheless, I have tried to keep all of these potential audiences in mind throughout, and have tried in particular to gear the level of information provided in the annotations to the audience(s) most likely to take an interest in them and to use and benefit from the work in question. That same principle applies to the introduction (ch. 1), which is addressed primarily to those without a close acquaintance with the field of philosophy, though readers who are not in that position may find parts of it helpful as well.The present guide succeeds two previous editions of Philosophy: A Guide to the Reference Literature, also published by Libraries Unlimited (1st ed., 1986, 2nd ed., 1997). The most radical departure from its predecessors is represented by its organization. It employs what is predominantly a subject arrangement classifying sources first of all in relation to the various divisions of philosophy and its history, in contrast to the primary arrangement by types of reference sources (bibliographies, indexes, dictionaries and encyclopedias, etc.) employed previously."Contents: Preface; Chapter 1: Introduction; Part I. General sources. Chapter 2: General Bibliographic and Research Guides; Chapter 3: Chapter 3: General Bibliographies; Chapter 4: General Indexes, Abstract and Review Sources, and Serial Bibliographies; Chapter 5: National and Regional Bibliographies and Indexes; Chapter 6: General Internet Resources and Gateways; Chapter 7: General Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and Handbooks; Part II. History of Philosophy. Chapter 8: Comprehensive History Sources; Chapter 9: Non-Western Philosophy; Chapter 10: Western Philosophy: General, National, and Regional; Chapter 11: Western Philosophy: Ancient; Chapter 12: Western Philosophy: Medieval and Renaissance; Chapter 13: Western Philosophy: Modern through Nineteenth Century; Chapter 14: Western Philosophy: Twentieth and Twenty-first Century; Part III. Branches of Philosophy. Chapter 15: Aesthetics, Philosophy of Art, and Art Criticism; Chapter 16: Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Philosophy of Mind; Chapter 17: Ethics; Chapter 18: Logic and the Philosophies of Mathematics, Science, and Social Sciences; Chapter 19: Philosophy of Education; Chapter 20: Philosophy of religion; Chapter 21; Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy; Chapter 22: Other Branches and Special Topics; Part IV. Miscellanea. Chapter 23: Sundry Currents, Schools, and Movements; Chapter 24: Directories and Miscellaneous Reference Sources; Appendix 1: Core Academic Titles; Appendix 2: Titles especially Suited for Public and School Libraries; Author Index; Title Index; Subject Index.
Follon Jacques. Guide bibliographique des études de philosophie. Paris: Vrin 1993. (in French)
From the English Preface: "In the course of their studies, most students of philosophy at university or even in secondary education will sooner or later be called upon to produce a piece of original work. Whether this be an M.A. thesis, a doctoral dissertation, or simply a paper to be presented in some course, seminar or exam, such work always requires active research. However, faced with this requirement, many find themselves completely disheartened by the scope and complexity of the task. There are as well many young teachers of philosophy who experience serious difficulties in compiling the material necessary to prepare their lectures, which are meant to introduce to the discipline which they themselves are teaching. It is precisely to these two categories of "apprentice philosophers" that the present work is addressed: not, of course, in order to teach them the art of composition or pedagogics (in these two fields, innumerable and excellent manuals already exist), but rather to furnish them with a choice of bibliographical references which should prove useful in carrying out philosophical research or in preparing a course in philosophy. With this end in mind, the present short work does not whatsoever pretend to be exhaustive. On the contrary: instead of overwhelming the reader with a mass of information that might easily have discouraged him (or her), I have simply had the intention to provide an accessible guide, which points out the most important and most interesting tools for research or for the preparation of a course. There are a number of previous publications some aspects of which have served as a model for my own project; above all, I must mention the book by L. De Raeymaeker, Introduction à la philosophie, 6th ed., Louvain, Publications universitaires, 1967, especially pages 231 to 304 ("Renseignements bibliographiques"); but also R. T. De George, A Guide to Philosophical Bibliography and Research, New York, Meredith, 1971; and H. J. Koren, Research in Philosophy. A Bibliographical Introduction to Philosophy and a few Suggestions for Dissertations, Pittsburgh (Pa.), Duquesne University Press, 1966; and finally, the unpublished lecture notes of the late Canon C. Wenin, who used to teach the "Introduction to philosophy" course at the Institut Supérieur de Philosophie at Louvain-la-Neuve. For the updating of bibliographical data, I have extensively drawn on the appendix to vol. I (L'univers philosophique) of the Encyclopédie philosophique universelle, edited under the direction of A. Jacob, Paris, P.U.F., 1989 (pp. 1741-1908)."
Guerry Herbert. A bibliography of philosophical bibliographies. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press 1977.
From the introduction: "The present work attempts to list philosophical bibliographies published in all countries since about 1450, when printing was invented, through the year 1974. Non-specialists and undergraduates will find references to the standard bibliographical aids appropriate to their interests and courses. Advanced scholars are directed to the more specialized and abstruse bibliographies. My aim has been to include only bibliographies that have been published separately or appeared as contributions to journals, though I have included a few significant bibliographies which were published as appendixes to monographs or as parts of larger bibliographies. This restriction was necessary in order to make the task of compiling the bibliography manageable. Bibliographies are always incomplete, and all subject bibliographies are slightly out of date from the time of publication. The present volume is no exception. Like Mozart's Don Giovanni, I have tried to make my collection as extensive as possible, knowing all the while that true completeness is a daydream. Moreover, when I began my work, I had intended to describe each work cited. As the number of entries grew, it became clear, given my present circumstances, that the annotation of each item would be impossible. I therefore elected to write as many annotations as I could for the present edition and complete them in a subsequent larger work. The bibliographies in this volume are divided into two alphabetically arranged lists, numbered consecutively. The first list (1-1395) contains bibliographies on the works of, and literature about, individual philosophers. The second list (1396-2353) contains bibliographies on philosophical topics. Bibliographies that cover more than one topic are cross-indexed; thus a bibliography on the doctrine of Platonic ideas appears under the subject heading "Ideas (Platonic)," but is also referred to by number in the entries under the author heading 'Plato." Bibliographies of works on or within a school of philosophy bearing the name of an individual (for example, "Cartesianism," "Cartesians," "Marxism," "Marxism-Leninism") are listed among the bibliographies on that individual (for example, under "Descartes, René," or "Marx, Karl")."
Ruben Douglas H. Philosophy Journals and serials: an analytical guide. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group 1985.
From the Preface: "Traditionally, philosophy comprises five general fields of study: logic, aesthetics, ethics, politics, and metaphysics. In all five fields is represented the continuum from historical to modern contemporary evolutions in philosophical criticism. This book surveys mainly the twentieth-century evolutions of philosophy in an analytic review of English-language serials published all over the world. (...) The bibliography of 335 entries that follows includes newsletters, bulletins, and serials. Three basic criteria determined their selection. First, did the serial have a regular frequency of publication? Irregularity of distribution poses a problem because readers want a continuous flow of information. Second, did the serial contain articles, summaries, reviews, or some section in the English-language? Publications in Poland, France, Italy, and Israel, for instance, may circulate to English-speaking subscribers without ever or only rarely printing English articles or translations. But these were excluded from the survey. Finally, did the serial serve as a critical forum for discussion within the five traditional field of philosophy? Ideally, the content of journals determines the appropriate field. But in practice even the most specialized journal in, say, aesthetics, may accept articles outside of the field proper, thereby creating an overlap. One alternative to reduce overlap was to expand beyond the five sub-fields to the following list: aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, morality, philosophy of religion, metaphysics (cosmology), philosophy of anthropology, philosophy of education, philosophy of history, philosophy of politics (law), philosophy of social sciences, semantics (language), logic, and general issues. Further divisions of philosophy covered in the journals may be found through the Subject Index."
Hogrebre Wolfram, Konig Gert, and Kamp Rudolf. Periodica philosophica: eine internationale Bibliographie philosophischer Zeitschriften von den Anfangen bis zur Gegenwart. Düsseldorf: Philosophia Verlag 1972.
"An alphabetical list of philosophical periodicals, giving place of publication, sponsoring groups, dates of publication, editors, frequency of publication, and special fields of interest for each journal. Separate lists of publications by country and by subject area."
Risse Wilhelm. Bibliographia philosophica vetus. Repertorium generale systematicum operum philosophicorum usque ad annum MDCCC typis impressorum. Hildesheim: Georg Olms 1998.
Volumes: 1. Philosophia generalis (XII + 469 pages); 2. Logica (VIII + 492); 3. Metaphysica (VIII + 145); 4. Ethica et Politica (VIII + 648); 5. De anima (VIII + 300); 6. Philosophia naturalis (VIII + 461); 7. Doxoscopia (Geschichte der Philosophie) (VIII + 243); 8. Theses academicae (Index disputationum, Opera anonyma, Index respondentium). In 3 Teilbänden (XIV + 1218); 9. Syllabus auctorum (VI + 354).
"A rich short title bibliography, this work attempts to include all independently published works of philosophy from the dawn of publishing to 1800 in all European languages. An estimated 76,400 titles and 15,800 names are covered, roughly organized by year and author in eight volumes of vastly different lengths. Entries include author, title, place and year of publication, printer or publisher, and bibliographical format, followed by library call numbers. Works actually examined are marked with an asterisk. There are indexes to authors, anonymous works, commentators, Latin keywords, and call numbers from 78 German and 350 other European and American libraries. Libraries that are particularly interesting are marked with asterisks. Volume 9 consists chiefly of a complete author index, with birth and death dates, places of birth and activity, and profession, with references to volumes in which works are listed; in addition, the volume includes both a Latin-German concordance to places and abbreviations of monks' orders." From: Reference Reviews Europe Online.
B) ENCYCLOPEDIAS
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edited by Edwards Paul. New York: Macmillan 1967.
Eight volumes, plus a supplement published in 1996; this work is now superseded by the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, but some articles are still of valuable interest. Eight volumes, plus a supplement published in 1996; this work is now superseded by the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, but many articles are still of valuable interest. From the Introduction: "The last and, in fact, the only previous major philosophical reference work in the English language, J. M. Baldwin's Dictionary of Psychology and Philosophy, appeared in 1901. While it was in many ways an admirable work (it numbered among its contributors men of such caliber as Charles Peirce and C. E. Moore), the scope of Baldwin's Dictionary was quite limited. The great majority of articles were exceedingly brief, providing concise definitions of technical terms sometimes accompanied by additional information of a historical nature. Since then, especially in the light of the revolutionary developments in philosophy and related fields, the need for a truly encyclopedic presentation of philosophical theories and concepts has become increasingly acute. The present encyclopedia is intended to fill this need. It has been our aim to cover the whole of philosophy as well as many of the points of contact between philosophy and other disciplines. The Encyclopedia treats Eastern and Western philosophy; it deals with ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy; and it discusses the theories of mathematicians, physicists, biologists, sociologists, psychologists, moral reformers, and religious thinkers where these have had an impact on philosophy. The Encyclopedia contains nearly 1,500 articles of ample length which can be of value to the specialist, while most of them are sufficiently explicit to be read with pleasure and profit by the intelligent non-specialist. Some of the longer articles, such as those dealing with the history of the various fields of philosophical investigation or the work of the most influential philosophers, are in effect small books, and even the shorter articles are usually long enough to allow a reasonably comprehensive treatment of the subject under discussion. We believe that there is no philosophical concept or theory of any importance that is not identified and discussed in the Encyclopedia, although not every concept or theory has a separate article devoted to it. In apportioning the space at our disposal, we were guided by the thought that the majority of readers would derive more benefit from, a smaller number of long and integrated articles than from a multitude of shorter entries. Throughout we have aimed at presentations which are authoritative, clear, comprehensive, and interesting."
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edited by Craig Edward. London, New York: Routledge 1998.
Ten volumes. The Encyclopedia is now available on line, but subscription is only for academic or public institution. From General Editor's preface and acknowledgements: "An encyclopedia cannot replace a library. But it can enable its users to get the most from their library, by providing clear and informative bibliographies with each entry. Thinking in particular of the less experienced reader, we have asked authors to provide a brief comment to accompany each item, indicating such things as its content, its level of difficulty, its position in the debate about the topic of the entry. Where an item itself contains a good and extended bibliography of the topic, we have asked that it be indicated as doing so. Our aim throughout has been to build the most convenient bridge possible between the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the rest of the vast corpus of philosophical literature."
Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edited by Craig Edward. London, New York: Routledge 1999.
An abridged edition in one volume; From the Introduction: "The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a complete introduction to world philosophy. Its 2,000 plus entries range from the Presocratics, Ancient Egypt and early Chinese philosophy up to the present day, and across the world to include the philosophies of the West, the Arab world, India, East Asia, Latin America and Africa. Subject matter is broad ranging, from aesthetics to mathematics, from philosophy of religion to philosophy of science. Entries fall into three broad types. First, lengthy entries provide introductions to major disciplines within philosophy (epistemology, ethics, metaphysics and so on) and major time periods and regions (ancient philosophy, medieval philosophy, Indian and Tibetan philosophy and so on), defining the concepts, movements and topics and summing up the major positions and debates within each. Shorter entries, ranging from a few dozen words to several hundred, then describe more specific concepts in greater detail. Finally, biographical entries provide information on the life, work and thought of hundreds of the world's philosophers, from household names like Plato and Confucius to others who, almost forgotten, none the less made important contributions."
C) DICTIONARIES
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Edited by Audi Robert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1999.
Second expanded edition; the first edition was published in 1995.
From the Preface to the first edition: "In the first half of this century, the major philosophical dictionary published in English was James Mark Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, a multi-author work published by Peter Smith of Gloucester, Massachusetts; it appeared in 1901 in two volumes (followed by a bibliography in 1905) and was reprinted with revisions in 1925. In the second half of the century, dictionaries of philosophy in English have been much smaller than Baldwin's and either written by a single author or, occasionally, prepared by a group of writers rarely much larger than a dozen working within the confines of a small space. Few of the entries in these books are longer than 500 words; the most typical have been sketches of 150 words or less. This dictionary by contrast, is the work of an international team that includes 381 carefully selected contributors representing the major sub-fields of philosophy and many philosophical traditions. It contains substantial treatments of major philosophers, many of these entries running to several thousand words. It has hundreds of entries, often of 500 to 1,000 words, on other significant thinkers, and thousands of brief definitions of philosophically important terms. In addition, it provides detailed overviews, some more than 6,000 words, of the sub-fields of philosophy, such as epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. It supplies numerous cross-references to help readers in comprehending philosophical ideas, in understanding the terminology of the discipline, and in appreciating philosophers themselves."From the preface to the second edition: "The widespread positive reception of the First Edition has been gratifying, and s number of translations are proceeding, into Chinese, Italian, Korean, Russian, and Spanish at this writing. The field of philosophy has expanded, however, and ever apart from that I have become aware of several respects in which the Dictionary can better serve its readers. The result is a multitude of expansions in standing entries and the addition of some four hundred new entries. This extended coverage required sixty new authors, nearly half of them from outside North America. The new entries range across the entire field of philosophy. We have made a special effort to increase our coverage of Continental philosophy and of sub-field, where growth is exceptionally rapid, such as ethics, philosophy of mind, and political philosophy. We have also added numerous cross-references. The cross-references are an element in the volume that many readers have said they found not only valuable in enhancing their initial understanding of an entry, but also welcome as a source of intriguing connections and as an invitation to browse."
The Oxford companion to philosophy. Edited by Honderich Ted. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1993.
From the Preface: "The brave, large aim of this book is to bring philosophy together between two covers better than ever before. That is not a job for one man, or one woman, or a few, or a team, although it is tried often enough. So 249 of us have joined forces. The philosophy brought together includes, first of all, the work of the great philosophers. As that term is commonly used, there are perhaps twenty of them. By anyone's reckoning, this pantheon of philosophy includes Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, the blessed Hume, Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche. These, together with others who stand a bit less solidly in the pantheon, are the subjects of long essays in this book. Philosophy as this book conceives it, secondly, includes all of its history in the English language, a history mainly of British and American thinkers. In this history there are many figures not so monumental as Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Among them, if they are not admitted to the pantheon, are John Stuart Mill, Charles Sanders Peirce, Bertrand Russell, and, if an Austrian can be counted in this particular history, Ludwig Wittgenstein. They also include Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Reid, William James, and F. H. Bradley. Thirdly, if the book cannot include all of the histories of philosophy in other languages than English, it does attend to them. It attends to more than the great leaders of the philosophies in these languages. Thus Descartes is joined by such of his countrymen and countrywomen as Simone de Beauvoir, Henri Bergson, and Auguste Comte. Kant and Hegel are joined by J. G. Fichte, Jurgen Habermas, and Karl Jaspers. There are also general entries on each of the national philosophies, from Australian to Croat to Japanese to Russian. A fourth part of the book, not an insignificant one, consists in about 150 entries on contemporary philosophers, the largest groups being American and British. It would have been an omission to leave out contemporaries, and faint-hearted. Philosophy thrives. Its past must not be allowed to exclude its present. It is true, too, that one of these contemporaries may one day stand in the pantheon. What has now been said of four subject-matters within philosophy as the book conceives it can be said differently. These subject-matters can be regarded less in terms of individual thinkers and more in terms of ideas, arguments, theories, doctrines, world-views, schools, movements, and traditions. This contributes to another characterization of the book, more complete and at least as enlightening, perhaps more enlightening. In particular, it brings out more of the great extent to which the book is about contemporary philosophy rather than the subject's history. There are perhaps a dozen established parts of philosophy: epistemology, metaphysics, moral philosophy, political philosophy, philosophical logic, logic, the philosophy of mind, aesthetics, and so on. In the case of each of these, the book contains a long essay on its history and another on its problems as they now are, by contributors not at all new to them. In the case of each of these established parts of philosophy, more light is shed by very many additional entries -- for a start, by the aforementioned entries on the great philosophers, on their lesser companions in English-language history and other-language histories, and on contemporaries now carrying on the struggle. In the case of each of the established parts of philosophy, there are also very many subordinate entries not about individual philosophers."
Bunge Mario. Dictionary of philosophy. Loughton, Essex: Prometheus Books 1998.
From the Preface: "This is a dictionary of modern philosophical concepts, problems, principles, and theories. It is limited to modern Western philosophy. Far from being neutral, it adopts a naturalistic and scientistic standpoint. But then, the competition too is biased in its choice of terms, authors, and analyses only, covertly so in most cases.
Three warnings are in order. First, the entries are uneven in length: whereas most are short, a few are minipapers. The latter handle topics that, in my opinion, are important but have not been handled correctly in the literature. Second, some entries contain technical stuff that the nonspecialist may skip or leave for later. Third, I have eschewed solemnity. Stuffiness belongs in mummified, not in living, philosophy; and somberness is best left to hell-mongers. Genuine philosophy should lighten, not burden; enlighten, not obscure; and help live an enjoyable life, not prepare for idle retirement, much less for death.
The choice of philosophical terms has been dictated by usage, usefulness, and enduring value rather than trendiness. Fashions are, by definition, local and shortlived. This is why such traditional terms as 'thing', 'change', 'test', 'truth', and 'good' occur here, whereas 'abduction', 'anomalous monism', 'logical atomism', 'prehension', 'rigid designator', 'strict implication', and other archaisms or shortlived curios do not. The reader interested in further ideas or different approaches should consult my Treatise on Basic Philosophy (8 volumes, Dordrecht-Boston: Reidel/ Kluwer, 1974-89) or longer dictionaries."
D) HISTORIES OF PHILOSOPHY
The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. Edited by Popkin Richard Henry. New York: Columbia University Press 1999.
Richard Popkin has assembled 63 leading scholars to forge a highly approachable chronological account of the development of Western philosophical traditions. From Plato to Wittgenstein and from Aquinas to Heidegger, this volume provides lively, in-depth, and up-to-date historical analysis of all the key figures, schools, and movements of Western philosophy.
The Columbia History significantly broadens the scope of Western philosophy to reveal the influence of Middle Eastern and Asian thought, the vital contributions of Jewish and Islamic philosophers, and the role of women within the tradition. Along with a wealth of new scholarship, recently discovered works in 17th- and 18th-century philosophy are considered, such as previously unpublished works by Locke that inspire a new assessment of the evolution of his ideas. Popkin also emphasizes schools and developments that have traditionally been overlooked. Sections on Aristotle and Plato are followed by a detailed presentation on Hellenic philosophy and its influence on the modern developments of materialism and scepticism. A chapter has been dedicated to Jewish and Moslem philosophical development during the Middle Ages, focusing on the critical role of figures such as Averroës and Moses Maimonides in introducing Christian thinkers to classical philosophy. Another chapter considers Renaissance philosophy and its seminal influence on the development of modern humanism and science.
Turning to the modern era, contributors consider the importance of the Kabalah to Spinoza, Leibniz, and Newton and the influence of popular philosophers like Moses Mendelssohn upon the work of Kant. This volume gives equal attention to both sides of the current rift in philosophy between continental and analytic schools, charting the development of each right up to the end of the 20th century.
Each chapter includes an introductory essay, and Popkin provides notes that draw connections among the separate articles. The rich bibliographic information and the indexes of names and terms make the volume a valuable resource.
The Oxford history of Western philosophy. Edited by Kenny Anthony. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press 1994.
"This is a uniquely authoritative history of philosophy for the general reader. Written by a team of distinguished scholars, it tells the story of Western philosophy from its ancient beginnings to the present day, emphasizing the intellectual context of its development."
Contents: List of Maps; List of Colour Plates; 1 Ancient Philosophy / Stephen R. L. Clark; 2 Medieval Philosophy / Paul Vincent Spade; 3 Descartes to Kant / Anthony Kenny; 4 Continental Philosophy from Fichte to Sartre / Roger Scruton; 5 Mill to Wittgenstein / David Pears, Anthony Kenny; 6 Political Philosophy / Anthony Quinton; Afterword; Chronological Table; Further Reading; Acknowledgements: Index.
Routledge History of Philosophy. Edited by George Henry Radcliffe Parkinson & Stuart G. Shanker. London, New York: Routledge 1993.
Ten volumes. From the General editors' preface: "The RoutIedge History of Philosophy provides a chronological survey of the history of Western philosophy, from its beginnings up to the present time. Its aim is to discuss all major philosophical developments in depth, and with this in mind, most space has been allocated to those individuals who, by common consent, are regarded as great philosophers. But lesser figures have not been neglected, and it is hoped that the reader will be able to find, in the ten volumes of the History, at least basic information about any significant philosopher of the past or present. (...) In speaking of 'What is now regarded as philosophy', we may have given the impression that there now exists a single view of what philosophy is. This is certainly not the case; on the contrary, there exist serious differences of opinion, among those who call themselves philosophers, about the nature of their subject. These differences are reflected in the existence at the present time of two main schools of thought, usually described as ''analytic' and 'continental' philosophy. It is not our intention, as general editors of this History, to take sides in this dispute. Our attitude is one of tolerance, and our hope is that these volumes will contribute to an understanding of how philosophers have reached the positions which they now occupy. One final comment. Philosophy has long been a highly technical subject, with its own specialized vocabulary. This History is intended not only for the specialist but also for the general reader. To this end, we have tried to ensure that each chapter is written in an accessible style; and since technicalities are unavoidable, a glossary of technical terms is provided in each volume. In this way these volumes will, we hope, contribute to a wider understanding of a subject which is of the highest importance to all thinking people."
Contents: Volume I: From the Beginning to Plato Ed: C. C .W. Taylor, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, UK Jan 1997; Volume II: Aristotle to Augustine Ed: David Furley, Princeton University, USA Mar 1999; Volume III: Medieval Philosophy Ed: John Marenbon Trinity College, Cambridge, UK Jan 1998; Volume IV: The Renaissance and Seventeenth Century Rationalism Ed: G. H. R. Parkinson, University of Reading, UK Sep 1993; Volume V: British Empiricism and the Enlightenment Ed: Stuart Brown, The Open University, UK Dec 1995; Volume VI: The Age of German Idealism Ed: Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen M. Higgins, University of Texas at Austin, USA Sep 1993; Volume VII: Metaphysics Under Attack: The Nineteenth Century Ed: C. L. Ten, Monash University, USA Sep 1994; Volume VIII: Continental Philosophy in the Twentieth Century Ed: Richard Kearney, University College Dublin Jan 1994; Volume IX: Philosophy of the English Speaking World in the Twentieth Century 1: Logic, Mathematics and Science Ed: S. G. Shanker, York University, Ontario, Canada Nov 1996; Volume X: Philosophy of the English Speaking World in the Twentieth Century 2: Meaning, Knowledge and Value Ed: John Canfield, University of Toronto, Mississauga Dec 1996."
Stegmüller Wolfgang. Main currents in contemporary German, British, and American philosophy. Dordrecht: Reidel Publishing Co. 1969.
Notes: Translated from the 4th German revised edition by Albert E. Blumberg (Original German edition 1952).
Contents: Foreword to the English edition V; Foreword to the second German edition XIII; Introduction: The problems of contemporary philosophy 1; Chapter 1: The philosophy of self-evidence: Franz Brentano 24; Chapter 2: Methodological phenomenology: Edmund Husserl 63; Chapter 3: Applied phenomenology: Max Scheler 101; Chapter 4: Existential ontology: Martin Heidegger 133; Chapter 5: The philosophy of existence: Karl Jaspers 181; Chapter 6: Critical realism: Nicolai Hartmann 220; Chapter 7: Modern empiricism: Rudolf Carnap 257; Chapter 8: Foundational studies and contemporary analytic philosophy 321; Chapter 9: Ludwig Wittgenstein 394; Appendix: 528; Bibliography: 539; Index of names: 557; Index of subjects: 559.
Deely John. Four ages of understanding. The first Postmodern survey of philosophy from ancient times to the turn of the Twenty-first Century. Toronto London Buffalo: University of Toronto Press 2001.
From the Preface: "It is not enough to distinguish the history of philosophy from philosophy, philosophical from exegetic problems, if we do not at the same time realize that the history of philosophy is philosophy itself as so far actually realized in civilization. An exclusively synchronic development of philosophical problems generates mainly a blindness to one's own presuppositions and to the manner in which historical context shapes in essential ways contemporary consciousness - and unconsciousness - of basic philosophical problems. To see that there is more to be done is quite a different matter than proceeding as if nothing had been done before us. Only an inclusive historical approach has even a ghost's chance of restoring perspective and balance, of forcing the needed reassessment to a successful outcome.
My hope is that this book will help make it unconscionable for professors to continue to teach philosophy in the manner that has long become customary - as though the history counted for nothing, or provided only a side-show, especially that part of its history I make known in this book as the Latin Age, to which age, especially in its closing centuries (the period between Ockham and Poinsot or Descartes), we owe the general notion of sign taken for granted today insofar as it is a warranted notion and not a mere nominalism. Besides, the history of philosophy is not only philosophy itself as realized in civilization, but also a story, and a good one. Mates has suggested that to tell a story or even to criticize what others have said or done is incompatible with the search for truth in history. I couldn't disagree more, for it is on narrative that we live as distinctively human animals, and every good narrative has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, however provisional. My aim has been to tell a 'story of philosophy' somewhere near as well as it deserves to be told in order for something of the many truths at stake to come alive for those who happen to hear the tale - not the only one to be told, to be sure, but still a story of philosophy in the grand manner such a story requires to match its destiny. I have tried to equip the reader, as it were, with seven-league boots, making it possible to traverse twenty-four centuries in such a way as to obtain a vantage opening as far into the future of philosophy, I dare say, as at least the lifetime of anyone born by the time of publication of this book. The last word in any history is never spoken till the race itself is extinct, and not even then. So this is not a history for all time, but only for the first quarter or so, with luck the first half, of the twenty-first century; after which the postmodernism of which it speaks as harbinger will be spoken of rather with words of hindsight and Minerva, according to the saying of Hegel, that the owl of wisdom only flies toward evening."
Buchdahl Gerd. Metaphysics and the philosophy of science. The classical origins. Descartes to Kant. Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1969.
From the Preface: "This book is meant to give philosophers of science as well as the general student some basic knowledge of philosophy, its problems and working methods, by a study of a crucial period in its history. Of necessity philosophy tends to become fragmented in proportion as its critical eye is focused on different fields, such as morals and politics, art, psychology, the physical and social sciences, and so on. Sometimes, as the subject becomes specialized and technical, particularly in the case of the philosophy of science, one loses sight of the general nature of philosophical thinking, and of the philosophical tradition that has accumulated over the centuries. Scientific detail as well as tendencies towards formalization begin to take precedence over the more basic questions. This work is in part meant to redress the balance, and to make the contemporary technical philosophers of science aware that behind their subject lies a solid foundation of general philosophical thought.
Furthermore, this book also seeks to remind the students of general philosophy that their philosophical heritage is deeply grounded in, if not originating from, speculation about science, showing that the methods and results of scientific enquiry have had a profound direction on philosophical thought.
If we here proceed historically, this is because recent trends have ignored or omitted to mention the genuine core of earlier progress; and sometimes histories of the subject have not helped since they tend to bury the living core of the nature of philosophical argument under the detail of their reportage. Here I have tried to retain what is living in the thought and procedures of some of the great philosophers of the past, particularly by emphasizing the nature of some of the logical manoeuvres which are permanently associated with philosophical thinking, and are an essential part of it. My objective has been to point to the growth of self-consciousness in philosophical thinking during recent times."
E) ANTHOLOGIES
A Modern Introduction to Philosophy. Readings from Classical and Contemporary Sources. Edited by Edwards Paul and Pap Arthur. New York: The Free Press 1973.
Third edition. From the General Introduction. "Our book may be regarded as a 'modern' introduction to philosophy because analytic philosophy is much more fully represented in it than in most introductory texts. Furthermore, while selections from several of the great classical philosophers are included (Plato, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Reid, Mill), the majority of our authors are figures on the contemporary philosophical scene. It should be noted, however, that not all contemporary philosophers represented in our book are analytic philosophers. Our only consideration in making selections from contemporary philosophical writing has been the clarity and intelligibility of the writer's language, the importance of his ideas and their relevance to the problems under discussion. In all eight sections we have tried to illustrate conflicting philosophical views and in several instances one selection directly criticizes another selection dealing with the same problem. We hope that our book will be found useful in college courses introducing students to philosophy by a discussion of sample problems rather than by a purely historical approach (though some essential historical information is also supplied by the introductions to the various sections). Wherever possible, we have chosen fresh, unhackneyed material. The Ayer-Copleston debate on logical positivism is here published for the first time and several of the other selections, although of unquestionable merit, are not widely known and are not easily accessible to most students. We believe that this book can also be used with profit by the general reader who wishes to find out what philosophy is all about and especially what philosophers are doing today. As already indicated, we have done our best to confine the selections to writings which are free from obscurity and bombast; and for the reader's guidance we have provided each section with an introduction in which the problems and the main rival answers are briefly explained. At the end of each section there is a bibliography for the benefit of those who wish to pursue the subject beyond the elementary level, and biographical information about the authors may be found at the end of the book."
Contents: Preface to the Third Edition. General Introduction. Key to Abbreviations.
First Part. Determinism, Freedom and Moral Responsibility. Introduction by Paul Edwards; 1. Paul Rée: Determinism and the Illusion of Moral Responsibility; 2. Henry Thomas Buckle: The Regularity of the Moral World; 3. William James: The Dilemma of Determinism; 4. H. D. Lewis: Responsibility and Absolute Choice; 5. John Stuart Mill: Of Liberty and Necessity; 6. Moritz Schlick: When Is a Man Responsible?; 7. C. A. Campbell: Is 'Free Will' a Pseudo-Problem?; 8. John Hospers: Free Will and Psychoanalysis; 9. S. I. Benn and R. S. Peters: Human Action and the Limitations of Causal Explanation; Selected bibliography.
Second part. Scepticism and the Problem of lnduction. Introduction by Arthur Pap. 10. René Descartes: The Sphere of Doubtful; 11. David Hume: Sceptical Doubts Concerning the Human Understanding; 12. Bertrand Russell: On Induction; 13. F. L. Will: Will the Future Be Like the Past?; 14. Max Black: The Justification of Induction; Selected Bibliography.
Third Part. Body, Mind and Death. Introduction by Paul Edwards; 15. David Hume: Of Personal Identity; 16. Thomas Reid: Of the Nature and Origin of Our Notion of Personal Identity; 17. C. D. Broad: The Traditional Problem of Body and Mind; 18. John Tyndall: The Limitations of Scientific Materialism; 19. T. H. Huxley: The Automation Theory; 20. Viscount Samuel, A. J. Ayer, and Gilbert Ryle: The Physical Basis of Mind -- A Philosopher Symposium; 21. J. J. C. Smart: Sensations and Brain Processes; 22. John Haynes Holmes: Ten Reasons for Believing in Immortality; 23. Clarence Darrow: The Myth of Immortality; Selected Bibliography.
Fourth Part. Moral Judgments. Introduction by Paul Edwards; 24. Thomas Reid: The Moral Faculty and the Principles of Morals; Bertrand Russell: Science and Ethics; 26. A. C. Ewing: The Objectivity of Moral Judgments; 27. G. E. Moore: The Indefinability of Good; 28. A. J. Ayer: Critique of Ethics; 29. Brand Blanshard: The New Subjectivism in Ethics; 30. John Mackie: A Refutation of Morals; 31. R. M. Hare: The Logical Behavior of the Word "Good"; Selected Bibliography.
Fifth Part. The Existence of God. Introduction by Paul Edwards; 32. St. Anselm: There Exists Something Than Which a Greater Cannot Be Thought; 33. Thomas Aquinas: The Five Ways; 34. F. C. Copleston: Commentary of "The Five ways" of Aquinas; 35. William Paley: The Watch and the Human Eye; 36. D. E. Trueblood: The Evidential Value of Religious Experience; 37. Clarence Darrow: The Delusion of Design and Purpose; 38. Feodor Dostoevski: The Sufferings of Little Children; 39. John Hick: The Problem of Evil; 40. John Hick: Evil and Infinite Future Good; 41. Bertrand Russell and F. C. Copleston: The Existence of God -- A Debate; 42. Soren Kierkegaard: Eternal Happiness, Subjectivity and Truth; 43. Paul Edwards: Kierkegaard and the "Truth" of Christianity; 44. Emil Fackenheim: On the Eclipse of God; 45. Bernard Williams and Bishop J. A. T. Robinson: Has "God" a Meaning? -- A Discussion; 46. Antony Flew: Theology and Falsification; Selected Bibliography.
Sixth Part. Perception and the Physical World. Introduction by Arthur Pap; 47. John Locke: Sense Qualities and Material Substances; 48. George Berkeley: The First Dialogue Between Hylas and Philonous; W. T: Stace: Stars, Atoms, and Sensations; 50. Bertrand Russell: Physics and Perception; 51. Ernst Nagel: Physics, Perception and Commonsense; 52. Bertrand Russell: A Reply to Ernest Nagel; 53. C. H. Whiteley: Phenomenalism; 54. W. A. Sinclair: The Real World Is Astonishingly Rich and Complex; Selected Bibliography.
Seventh Part. A Priori Knowledge. Introduction by Arthur Pap; 55. Plato: Knowledge as Recollection; 56. G: W. Leibniz: Necessary Truths and the Natural Light Within Us; 57. Immanuel Kant: Introduction to the "Critique of Pure Reason"; John Stuart Mill: Mathematics and Experience; 59. Bertrand Russell: On Our Knowledge of General Principles; 60. A. J. Ayer The A Priori; 61, A. C. Ewing: The "A Priori" and the Empirical; Selected Bibliography.
Seventh Part. Meaning, Verification and Metaphysics. Introduction by Arthur Pap; 62. David Hume: Of the Origin of Ideas; 63. A. J. Ayer: Demonstration of the Impossibility of Metaphysics; 64. A. C. Ewing: Meaninglessness; 65. G. J. Warnock: Verification and the Use of Language; 66. Moritz Schlick: Unanswerable Questions; 67. Paul Edwards: Why?; Selected Bibliography;Biographical Notes; Index of Names; Index of Subjects.
The Classics of Western philosophy. A reader's guide. Edited by Gracia Jorge E., Reichberg Gregory, and Schumacher Bernard. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing 2003.
"These texts, the ones that are read and re-read, we regard as classics in this book.
Which are these texts? Certainly many more than we have selected for discussion here. We have arbitrarily set a maximum number of sixty-one, mainly for reasons of economy. There are surely many more, although we hope that few of our colleagues, if any, will dispute that the sixty-one we have chosen are texts that are read and re-read by philosophers and that it is generally thought to be better to read them than not. Which books have been left out that should have been included? The readers are better judges of this than we are. But let us mention that, for the sake of balance, we have excluded many ancient texts which generally meet the criterion of classic that we have adopted. Which Dialogue of Plato or work by Aristotle does not qualify as a classic? But we had to leave some room for the moderns, so we have omitted most of the Platonic and Aristotelian corpus in order to make room for later authors. Indeed, we set a maximum limit of two works per author in order to help us achieve this goal. (...)The length of each essay varies, reflecting the view of the editors of the relative importance the texts discussed occupy or have occupied in philosophical discourse. Some of these texts are read more than others, and some have been read much at particular times and little or none at others. But they have all been read repeatedly and tend to display a certain resilience; the philosophical community is reluctant to part with them permanently. By this we do not mean that the philosophical texts which do not meet the criterion of classic we use are completely ignored. Historians and antiquarians abound who devote their efforts to studying them for the mere pleasure of knowing what went on in the past. What we mean is, rather, that they have ceased, permanently it seems, to be the subject of interest within the broader philosophical community."
F) STYLE MANUALS
The Chicago Manual of Style: the essential guide for writers, editors and publishers. Edited by University of Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1993.
Fourteenth edition. "Here is the thoroughly revised and updated edition of the one essential reference for all who work with words - writers, editors, proof-readers, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers. Almost 200 pages longer than its predecessor, this edition reflects nearly every significant change in style, usage, procedure, and technology. It is easier to use, richer in illustrative examples, and informed everywhere by the presence of computers in publishing, from manuscript preparation to editing, typesetting, indexing, design, and printing. The result of more than a decade's worth of continuous editing and revision, the changes to this edition fall into two broad categories. First are the changes designed to make the Manual's editorial guidelines more systematic, more inclusive, more reflective of contemporary usage, and more accessible. There are major revisions in the chapter on quotations, which features a fuller discussion of speech and alternative punctuation; in the chapter on names and terms, expanded treatment of nationalities, tribes, and races; a reorganized chapter on foreign languages, with a new section on Hebrew; and a revised and enlarged tabular spelling guide for compound words and words with prefixes and suffixes. The most thoroughly revised portion of the Manual is the section on documentation. What was scattered across three chapters is now more logically and concisely presented in two. Chapter 15 now covers the humanities style of documentation, and chapter 16, the author-date style preferred in the natural and social sciences. Notes and bibliographic entries, text citations and reference-list entries are discussed separately, and there are many examples of ways to cite a range of material - from medieval documents to computer programs, with guidelines for citing data bases, network billboards, and other electronic documents. The other set of changes emphasizes new developments in publishing, from new technologies for composition, design, public relations."
Turabian Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1996.
Sixth revised edition. "For nearly sixty years Kate L. Turabian's Manual for Writers has offered comprehensive and detailed guidance to writers of research papers - term papers, theses, and dissertations. Now the editors of The Chicago Manual of Style have revised Turabian's Manual to bring the details of style into conformity with the fourteenth edition of the Chicago Manual. This new edition of "Turabian" reflects the way students work today, taking into account the role of personal computers in the preparation and presentation of their papers. This new edition includes information on the components of a long formal paper; the mechanics of writing style, from abbreviations to quotations; how to prepare and refer to tables and illustrations; the most commonly used systems of citation, including how to cite electronic documents; manuscript preparation and hints on word processing software; and formatting some of the complex features found in many research papers, including over two dozen sample pages."
Contents: Preface 1: Parts of the Paper 2: Abbreviations and Numbers 3: Spelling and Punctuation 4: Capitalization, Italics, and Quotation Marks 5: Quotations 6: Tables 7: Illustrations 8: Notes 9: Bibliographies 10: Parenthetical References and Reference Lists 11: Comparing the Two Documentation Systems 12: Public Documents 13: Preparing the Manuscript 14: Formats and Sample Layouts Selected Bibliography Index.
Gibaldi Joseph. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: The Modern Language Association of America 1999.
Fifth Edition. (First edition 1977). From the Foreword by Phyllis Franklin: "The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is designed to introduce you to the customs of a community of writers who greatly value scrupulous scholarship and the careful documentation, or recording, of research. Read from beginning to end, the MLA Handbook provides a comprehensive picture of how research papers are created. Once you are familiar with the contents, you can use the book as a reference tool. Chapter 1 suggests some of the educational and intellectual purposes of research and describes the first steps in a scholarly project: choosing a topic; using a library and the Internet; evaluating electronic sources; producing a working bibliography, notes, outlines, and drafts; and avoiding plagiarism. Chapter 2 gives practical advice on such matters as spelling, punctuation, and the presentation of names, numbers, titles of works, and quotations. This chapter is meant to help you craft writing that is clear, consistent, and stylistically authoritative. Chapter 3 gives guidelines on the physical format of the paper. The next two chapters cover the MLA's system, or style, of documenting print and electronic sources: chapter 4 explains how to list sources at the end of a paper, while chapter 5 shows how to cite them in the text of a paper. Chapter 6 describes abbreviations that are useful in documentation and in certain other contexts. Appendix A lists notable reference works in specialized fields; appendix B presents some systems of documentation other than the MLA's. Finally, there are sample pages of a research paper that illustrate MLA style.
Learning the rules the MLA Handbook outlines will help you become a writer whose work deserves serious consideration. Similarly, your study of these rules can make you a more discerning reader: knowing how an author is supposed to use sources is essential to judging a text's reliability."
Martinich Aloysius. Philosophical writing: an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 1997.
"This is a substantially updated and revised edition. It's goal is to help those with little or no experience in philosophy to write successfully. By improving students' ability to present their knowledge and thoughts clearly, it helps them gain confidence in their essay-writing skills. This new edition includes three new sections on Contraries and Contradictions, Distinctions, and Definitions, as well as a glossary of those terms peculiar to philosophical prose (such as "obtain" and "straw man"). The second edition retains the highly acclaimed commentary on features of an essay, showing the evolution from draft stage to completion of a good paper, a crash course on logic, and a clear description of types of reasoning. It also discusses the special problem of being a student-author writing for a professor.
Contents: Notes to the Second Edition. Introduction. Part I: Author and Audience. Part II: Logic and Argument for Writing. Part III: The Structure of a Philosophical Essay. Part IV: Composing. Part V: Tactics for Analytic Writing. Part VI: Some Constraints on Content. Part VII: Some Goals of Form.
Part VIII: Problems with Introductions. Appendix A: "It's Sunday Night and I have an Essay Due Monday Morning." Appendix B: Glossary of Philosophical Terms. Index."
Graybosch Anthony, Scott Gregory, and Garrison Stephen. The Philosophy Student Writer's Manual. New York: Prentice-Hall 1997.
"This book emphasizes writing before reading. It encourages critical thinking. It uses a reader-friendly approach and introduces the style of argumentative writing that is expected. Features a series of developmental exercises that encourages to use the tools of logic. It offers five chapters covering research techniques, including: lists of sources (e.g., the Encyclopedia of Philosophy), specialized reference encyclopedias such as those devoted to bioethics and philosophy of religion.
Contents: Preface. An Introduction to the Discipline of Philosophy. PART ONE. A HANDBOOK OF STYLE FOR PHILOSOPHY. 1. Writing as Communication. 2. Writing Competently. PART TWO. CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY. 3. Organizing the Research Process. 4. Information in Your Library and Similar Places. 5. Philosophy on the World Wide Web. 6. Formats for Philosophy Papers. 7. Citing Sources.
PART THREE. HOW TO THINK AND WRITE LIKE A PHILOSOPHER. 8. Principles of Argument. 9. Avoiding Fallacies. 10. An Introduction to Ethics.
PART FOUR. SPECIFIC PHILOSOPHY WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. 11. Writing Sound Arguments: Position Papers. 12. Introductory Ethics Assignment: A Personal Ethics Statement. 13. Ethics Assignments for Intermediate and Advanced Students. 14. History of Philosophy Papers. Glossary. Index."
G) RESOURCES ON LINE
Episteme Links. Philosophy Resources on the Internet by Thomas Ryan Store (the best point of departure)
Resources en Philosophie by University of Montreal (in French)
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy edited by Edward N. Zalta (the best resource on philosophy available on the Internet)
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy edited by James Fieser and Bradley Dowden
Ontology and the History of Logic
Table of Ontologists (PDF)
Ontologists of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Living Ontologists (a list of authors with an interest in ontology, with synthetic bibliographies)
Last modified: Tuesday, March 09, 2010