Welcome
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 !
Best Places to Start
Background Information
See Get Started for more details and options.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowSearch 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.
Articles
See Find Articles for more details and options.
Books
See Find Books for more details and options.
Library Search at Rowan University Libraries
Search for books and more in Campbell Library.- Interlibrary LoanUse 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.
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 windowSearch 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.
- Very Short Introductions This link opens in a new windowSearch 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 windowSearch for biographies of people. This can be helpful for background information on individual philosophers.
Get Started: Web Resources
- Internet Encyclopedia of PhilosophyWhile this resource is freely available online, its entries are written and rigorously edited by expert scholars.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophySimilarly, 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 NamesA 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 SearchSearch 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 LoanUse 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.
Philosophy Audiobooks
- Overdrive (Audiobooks) This link opens in a new windowA small selection of primary texts in philosophy are available as audiobooks through our Overdrive subscription, in the Philosophy & Religion section. Follow these steps to use Overdrive for audiobooks on your mobile device:
- Install the Libby app on your mobile device, and open it.
- On the opening screen, select Yes, I Have A Library Card.
- Select Search For A Library, search for Rowan, and select Rowan University.
- Select Sign In With My Card and then Next, and log in with your Rowan NetID and password, including Duo verification.
- Install the Libby app on your mobile device, and open it.
LC Classification for Philosophy
- How to Read and Use a Call NumberFrom 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
Find Articles
The best way to access scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles from Rowan University Libraries is through our databases. Databases are self-contained online tools that provide large searchable collections of articles and other materials. They may contain articles from a large variety of subjects, or focus on only one subject.
Below are some key databases for Philosophy, both philosophy-specific and multi-subject, as well as a few other tips and tools.
Philosophy Databases
These databases are for articles and more only about philosophy. They may overlap but each includes articles the others may not, so searching more than one is a good strategy.
- Philosopher's Index with Full Text This link opens in a new windowCovers scholarly research in philosophy, including journal articles and books.
- PhilPapers This link opens in a new windowAn index of scholarly philosophy books and articles, which means you may not always be able to directly access material it lists. If you find a book or article of interest in PhilPapers, though, you can search for it in Library Search to see if you can access it through the library.
- Philosophy Documentation Center Collection This link opens in a new windowCovers scholarly journals, books, conference proceedings, and more.
Best Multi-Subject Databases for Philosophy
These databases cover multiple subjects, including philosophy. They may be a better choice if your research crosses over with other disciplines like religion or history, or if you have trouble finding information in philosophy databases.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowIncludes scholarly journal articles as well as magazine and news articles. Check the "Peer Reviewed" box under "Limit your results" to search only scholarly articles.
- Humanities Source This link opens in a new windowLike Academic Search Complete, this includes scholarly and non-scholarly materials, but can be limited to scholarly journals and books only.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowIn general, most sources in JSTOR are only scholarly, but the search interface can be more difficult to use.
Need more? Want help? Use the box on the left to contact your librarian!
Tip: Getting articles
If you don't see a Full Text link below the article citation, look for a button labeled "Get it!" This application will check for access to the full text of the article within the library's subscriptions.
If a message is displayed indicating that we don't have access, choose the Campbell Library Interlibrary Loan Request link to order the article through our Illiad online system.
Google Scholar
You may prefer to use Google Scholar to find scholarly articles, and that's okay too! Just make sure that you can access the articles you find, by linking Google Scholar to Rowan University Libraries' resources.
- From the Google Scholar home page, click the button in the top left with three horizontal lines:
- Select Settings.
- In the Settings area, click the option in the left navigation that says Library links.
- In the search box marked Show library access links for (choose up to five libraries):, search for Rowan University.
- An option should appear below the search box that reads "Rowan University - FullText@RowanUniversity" with a check-box next to it. Click the check-box so it is selected.
- Click Save in the lower right.
Now when you search in Google Scholar from this browser, your results should link directly to full text of each article, courtesy of Rowan University Libraries.