LibGuides: Philosophy: Reference Works

Encyclopedias

These encyclopedias help you orientate on a topic - to find the most important terms, debates and authors.

Encyclopedia of medieval philosophy: philosophy between 500 and 1500
Encyclopedia covering all areas of philosophy in the Middle Ages and part of the Renaissance, ranging from 500 to 1500 CE, published by Springer (2011).
Encyclopedia of Political Thought
Encylopedia covering the history of political thought, contemporary political theory and political philosophy (2014).
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The ca 900 entries range in size from shorter definitions and biographies to extended treatments of major topics and traditions: key theories and methods from within the western canon and from non-western perspectives.
The International Encyclopedia of Ethics
Reference work on ethics (2013, updated regularly)
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Encyclopedia providing detailed, scholarly information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Encyclopedia on social and behavioral sciences and related topics (second edition, 2015)
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Contains over 3900 articles on communication, behavioral sciences, social sciences, psychology and education theory.
MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences
Encyclopedia covering cognitive sciences, including psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology and the social sciences more generally, evolutionary biology, education, computer science, artificial intelligence, and ethology (1999).

New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
Online version of the well known dictionary of economics.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Peer-reviewed, open access encyclopedia for philosophy.
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The entries in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy are written and maintained by experts in the field, and peer-reviewed. The entries have bibliographies and hyperlinks to Internet sites about the same subject.

Oxford Handbooks Online - Philosophy
Oxford Handbooks Online offers access to a selection of handbooks. Each handbook offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship.
Routledge Handbooks Online - Philosophy
Routledge Handbooks Online offers access to a selection of handbooks and companions, published between 2014 and 2018.
Oxford Handbook Online - Political Science
Handbooks focused on political science, political theory and international relations, offering thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship.

The book series below are available in paper. You are linked to sEURch, where you request the book to borrow it.

Oxford Handbooks in Philosophy (paper)
Reference books containing completely new essays, covering key topics in philosophy. Other Oxford Handbooks series might be interesting as well.
Blackwell Companions to Philosophy
Books covering key figures, terms, topics, and problems within philosophy.
Routledge Philosophy Companions
Books covering topics and periods within philosophy. Some of these companions are available online.
Routledge Philosophy Guidebooks
Introductions to classic works of philosophy.
Critical Assessments
These books offer critical literature on selected philosophers.