Encyclopedias

Online encyclopedias

Britannica Online

Britannica Online includes the following:* Britannica Online and Book of the Year articles -- More than 65,000 subjects are addressed in articles ranging from concise explanations to comprehensive expositions and from historical treatments of subjects to current-events coverage.* The Index to Britannica Online -- More than 400,000 references have been compiled, edited, and hypertext-linked to text articles for easy navigation. Additionally, there are more than 10,000 links to images and tables.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Features over 2000 original articles from over 1300 leading international experts across the discipline of philosophy. The articles cover such topics as Anglo-American, ethical and political, cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, continental and contemporary philosophy.

World Encyclopedia [Available via Oxford Reference Online]

This encyclopedia features concise entries providing essential information on a range of subjects, including world affairs, science and technology, the arts, modern and ancient history, religion, sports, and popular culture.

Baldwin, James Mark. Dictionary of philosophy and psychology. New York: Macmillan, 1928. 3v.

Call number: SML, Reference, B41 B35 1928

Though long a standard reference work, the first two volumes, except for historical purposes, have been superseded by the Encyclopedia of Philosophy (see below). Concise rather than exhaustive in treatment, with signed articles by specialists (including J. Dewey, W. James, and G. E. Moore) and many bibliographies. Covers the whole field, but is fuller for modern than for earlier aspects of the subject and does not attempt to cover the whole of Greek and scholastic philosophy. Includes very brief biographies of men no longer living. Special features are the inclusion of French, German, and Italian equivalents of English terms used as entries and the indexes of foreign terms used in the articles.

A companion to aesthetics. Edited by David E. Cooper. Oxford; Cambridge, MA : Blackwell Reference, 1992.

Call number: SML, Reference, BH55.C65

An encyclopedic guide of more than 130 signed articles and essays on concepts and individuals significant to the study of philosophy of art, including literature. Although essentially concerned with Western studies, there are articles dealing with Chinese, Japanese, and Indian aesthetic philosophy. Bibliographies; cross-references; index.

The concise encyclopedia of western philosophy and philosophers. Edited by J. O. Urmson and Jonathan Ree. London, Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989.

Call number: SML, Reference, B41 U7 1989

Includes new articles that treat recent developments or aspects of the field not documented in earlier editions, together with older articles that are for the most part reproduced here with some corrections and additions. About a tenth of the older material has been deleted.

Dictionary of the history of ideas; studies of selected pivotal ideas. New York: Scribner's, 1973. 4v.

Call number: SML, Reference, CB5 D53

Selected pivotal topics in intellectual history; "the topics chosen are intended to exhibit the intriguing variety of ways in which ideas in one domain tend to migrate into other domains." (Preface) Signed articles on broad concepts and movements with brief bibliographies. A list of contributors and their articles is at the beginning of the first volume.

Enciclopedia filosofica. 2nd ed. Florence: Sansoni, 1968-69. 6v.

Call number: SML, Reference, B44 +E52 1968

Contains signed articles with bibliographies on individuals (including contemporary philosphers), places, ideas, movements, schools, etc. Information on a particular branch of philosophy is usually found in the entry under a philosopher's name; e.g., existentialism can be found in the article on Sartre, but there is no entry for existentialism itself. In the bibliographies emphasis is on recent publication in continental European languages (sometimes Italian translations rather than original titles are listed). Especially useful for biographical information on minor philosophers and figures in related fields. Has numerous indices.

The encyclopedia of Eastern philosophy and religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Edited by Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber, et al. Boston: Shambhala, 1989.

Call number: SML, Reference, BL1005 L4813 1989B

Written by specialists but intended for general readers; attempts to present "the basic terminology and doctrinal systems of the four great wisdom teachings of the East." (Introduction) Contains approximately 4,000 unsigned definitions and biographical sketches, arranged alphabetically. Longer entries often include discussions of historical and cultural significance, explanatory parables or koans, or references to important translations or studies. A "Ch'an/Zen lineage chart" following the text shows the transmission of the Buddhist tradition through various masters, texts, sects, and philosophies. Concludes with a lengthy classified bibliography that lists primary and secondary sources. No index, but entries contain numerous cross-references and illustrations.

Encyclopedia of philosophy. Edited by Paul Edwards. New York: Macmillan, 1967. 8v.

Call number: SML, Reference, B41 +E57 (LC)

Broader in scope than Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, with articles of generally more substantial length. Designed "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." (Introduction) Nearly 1,500 signed articles--about 900 of them on individual philosophers--were contributed by an international group of some 500 scholars. The final volume includes an index.

Encyclopedia of religion and ethics. Edited by James Hastings. Edinburgh: Clark, 1908-26. 13v.

Call number: SML, Reference, BL31 +H37

A somewhat dated encyclopedia of theology and philosophy, covering all religions and all great philosophical systems of the world. Articles are by specialists and deal with persons, ideas, concepts, customs, etc. Includes bibliographies. Volume 13 contains a general subject index, as well as separate indices to foreign words, scripture passages, and authors of articles.

Filosofskaia entsiklopediia. Ed. F. V. Konstantinov. Moscow: Sovetskaia Entsiklopediia, 1960-67. 5v.

Call number: SML, Stacks, Yale Classification, K55 +F54

General philosophical encyclopedia with emphasis on Marxist-Leninist thought. Signed articles dealing with all phases of philosophy: schools and movements, terminology, concepts, and individual philosophers; contains bibliographies. Provides detailed coverage of theoretical basis of communist thought.

Filosofskii entsiklopedicheskii slovar', red. kollegiia, S. S. Averintsev ... [et al.]. 2nd edition. Moskva : "Sovetskaia entsiklopediia", 1989.

Call number: SML, Slavic Reading Room, Ref B48 R9 +F55 1989 (LC)

Biographical and topical articles, some signed, on all aspects of philosophy. Translations of primary sources into Russian and secondary studies are listed at the end of each entry. A table of standard philosophical terms provides Russian translations from Latin and other languages. Arranged alphabetically with a subject/name index.

Hanns Reill, Peter and Ellen Judy Wilson. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. New York: Facts on File, 1996.

Call number: SML, Stacks, B802 +E53X 1996 (LC)

Lacey, A. R. A dictionary of philosophy. 2nd ed. London : Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.

Call number: SML, Reference, B41 L33 1986 (LC)

Most of the original articles have not been rewritten; there are 25 additions, as well as various cross-references, corrections, and bibliographic citations.

The Oxford companion to philosophy. Edited by Ted Honderich. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Call number: SML, Reference, B41 O94 1995 (LC)

Also in: Divinity, Trowbridge, B41 O94 1995

CCL, Reference, Upper Level, B41 O94X 1995 (LC)

Urmson, James Opie. The concise encyclopedia of Western philosophy and philosophers. New York: Hawthorn, 1965.

Call number: SML, Reference, K55 U75

Articles, though unsigned, have been contributed by nearly 50 scholars, most of them British (representing Oxford philosophy), and are written primarily for the 'intelligent layman.' Coverage is selective, but the work includes biographical articles, general descriptions of the main philosophical concepts, and definitions of terms. No bibliography.

Yale University Library Research Guide in Philosophy
Comments and questions to Anne Oechtering
Prepared by David L. Eastman
Illustration from René Descartes' Principia Philosophiæ, 1677
©2007 Yale University Library