Research Guides: Philosophy: Find Books

Welcome

What's This?

This guide lists resources and tools that will help you to do academic work and research on the study of philosophy, and use the materials you find.

What If I Need Help?

Contact Ash Lierman at lierman@rowan.edu !

Get Started

Get Started: Library Resources

The best place to start is with background information that can help you learn more about your philosophical topic, and identify important names and terms to search for. The library has a number of online tools designed for this.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Search across many e-books of background information, all in one place. You can also find Topic Pages on some topics that give a broad overview with sources.
Credo Reference provides a complete reference collection including encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, quotation books, bilingual dictionaries, measurement conversions, and more.
Very Short Introductions This link opens in a new window
Search for a topic in this collection of concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects, including many in philosophy.
Biography Reference Source This link opens in a new window
Search for biographies of people. This can be helpful for background information on individual philosophers.

Get Started: Web Resources

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
While this resource is freely available online, its entries are written and rigorously edited by expert scholars.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Similarly, this Stanford University-sponsored resource collects quality information written by scholars of philosophy, and makes it freely available online.
A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names
A dictionary to common philosophical terms created by a philosophy professor. While this resource has not been updated in some time, it can still be a helpful starting point with some terminology.

Find Books

Find Books at Rowan Libraries and Other Universities

Library Search
Search for books, e-books, media (DVDs, music recordings and scores, etc.) and more in Rowan University Libraries.

To access e-books, click the title of the book in your results, and then click any of the links in the "View Online" section.

For physical books, find the call number below the book title in your results, and use it to locate the book on the shelf.
Interlibrary Loan
Use this free service to get articles and books that are not in Rowan's libraries. ILLiad is best for articles and other electronic materials, and EZ Borrow is best for books and other physical materials.

Also note that Library Search actually searches for books and journal articles simultaneously, unless you narrow your search to only books, via the menu options on the left side of the screen.

LC Classification for Philosophy

How to Read and Use a Call Number
From the University of Michigan Libraries.

Subset B GENERAL PHILOSOPHY

B1-5802 Philosophy (General)

B69-99 General works

B108-5802 By period Including individual philosophers and schools of philosophy

B108-708 Ancient

B720-765 Medieval

B770-785 Renaissance

B790-5802 Modern

B808-849 Special topics and schools of philosophy

B850-5739 By region or country

B5800-5802 By religion

Subclass BC LOGIC

BC1-199 Logic

BC11-39 History

BC25-39 By period

BC60-99 General works

BC171-199 Special topics

Subclass BD SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY

BD10-701 Speculative philosophy

BD10-41 General philosophical works

BD95-131 Metaphysics

BD143-237 Epistemology. Theory of knowledge

BD240-260 Methodology

BD300-450 Ontology Including being, the soul, life, death

BD493-701 Cosmology Including teleology, space and time, structure of matter, plurality of worlds

Subclass BH AESTHETICS

BH1-301 Aesthetics

BH81-208 History

BH301 Special topics

Subclass BJ ETHICS

BJ1-1725 Ethics

BJ71-1185 History and general works Including individual ethical philosophers

BJ1188-1295 Religious ethics

BJ1298-1335 Evolutionary and genetic ethics

BJ1365-1385 Positivist ethics

BJ1388 Socialist ethics

BJ1390-1390.5 Communist ethics

BJ1392 Totalitarian ethics

BJ1395 Feminist ethics

BJ1518-1697 Individual ethics. Character. Virtue Including practical and applied ethics, conduct of life, vices, success, ethics for children

BJ1725 Ethics of social groups, classes, etc. Professional ethics

Philosophy and Science

B67 Philosophy in relation to science

Q174-175.3 Science. Philosophy of

QC5.56-QC6.4 Physics. Philosophy of

QD6 Chemistry. Philosophy of

QH14.3 Natural History. Philosophy of

QH331 Biology. Philosophy of.

Find Articles

E-Resources and Databases

Best Bets

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Full-text journal, magazine, and news articles in all academic disciplines.
Philosopher's Index with Full Text This link opens in a new window Scholarly research in philosophy.
Covers scholarly research in the field of philosophy, published in journals and books since 1940.
PhilPapers This link opens in a new window PhilPapers is a comprehensive index of philosophy books and articles.
Research Library This link opens in a new window Collection of journal, magazine and news articles in diverse subject areas.
Access to a wide range of popular academic subjects in the form of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers.

Other Philosophy Databases

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Philosophy Documentation Center Collection This link opens in a new window Searchable access to the full text of journals from the Philosophy Documentation Center, formerly POEISIS.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window Journal, magazine and news articles in all academic fields.