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Contents:
Why use reference books?
General
Philosophers
World philosophies
History of ideas
Ethics
Feminist theory
Philosophy of religion
World religions
Philosophy of science
Databases

Encyclopedia of Philosophy in the Arts Reference Collection
Subject Librarian: 
Jennifer Graham

Level 1
General Library
University of Auckland

Department of Philosophy

Why use reference books? Top of page

Reference books are a good place to start researching a topic. Reference books are easy to read and written by experts. Use reference books for concise introductions, facts, or definitions.

The reference books listed below are a selection of philosophy reference sources available at the University of Auckland Library. Ttitles are cited according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed.


Philosophy  Top of page

Pence, Gregory. A Dictionary of Common Philosophical Terms. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2000.

Library copy

Audi, Robert, ed. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Library copy | E-book

Baergen, Ralph. Historical Dictionary of Epistemology. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006.

Library copy

Blaauw, Martijn, and Duncan Pritchard. Epistemology A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, c2005.

Library copy

Blackburn, Simon. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005.

Library copy | E-book 

Borchert, Donald M. Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Detroit, Mich.: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006.

Library copy | E-book

Craig, Edward, ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1998.

Library copy | Database

Flew, Antony, and Stephen Priest, eds. A Dictionary of Philosophy. Aylesbury: Market House Books, 2002.

E-book

Gregory, Richard L., ed. Oxford Companion to the Mind. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Library copy

Honderich, Ted, ed. Oxford Companion to Philosophy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Library copy | E-book

Kelly, Michael, ed. Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Library copy

Garrett, Don, and Edward Barbanell, eds. Encyclopedia of Empiricism. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997.

Library copy | E-book

Zelazo, Philip David, Morris Moscovitch, Evan Thompson, eds. Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

E-book

Nelson, Robert S., and Richard Shiff, eds. Critical Terms for Art History. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Library copy | E-book


Philosophers Top of page

Arrington, Robert L., ed. A Companion to the Philosophers. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.

Library copy | E-book

Baggini, Julian, and Jeremy Stangroom, eds. Great Thinkers A-Z. London: Continuum, 2004.

Library copies | E-book

Brown, Stuart, Diané Collinson, Robert Wilkinson, eds. Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Philosophers. London: Routledge, 1996.

E-book

Brown, Stuart, ed. Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005.

Library copy

Brown, Stuart, Diané Collinson, Robert Wilkinson, eds. One Hundred Twentieth-Century Philosophers. London: Routledge, 1998.

E-book

Bunge, Wiep van, ed. The Dictionary of Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Dutch Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes, 2003.

Library copy

Cartwright, David E. Historical Dictionary of Schopenhauer's Philosophy. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2005.

Library copy

Caygill, Howard. A Kant Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell Reference, 1995.

Library copy | E-book

Chapman, Siobhan, and Christopher Routledge, eds. Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language. Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2005.

Library copies | E-book

Directory of American Philosophers. Bowling Green, Ohio: Philosophy Documentation Center.

Library copy

Hackett, Jeremiah. Medieval Philosophers. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992.

Library copy

Inwood, Michael J. A Hegel Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992. 

Library copy | E-book

---. A Heidegger Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. 

Library copy | E-book

International Directory of Philosophy and Philosophers. Bowling Green, Ohio: Philosophy Documentation Center, Bowling Green University.

Library copy

Lapointe, François H., comp. Søren Kierkegaard and His Critics: an International Bibliography of Criticism. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980.

Library copy

Martinich, Aloysius. A Hobbes Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.

Library copy | E-book

Parker, Noel, and Stuart Sim. The A-Z Guide to Modern Social and Political Theorists. London : Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997.

Library copy

Pyle, Andrew, ed. The Dictionary of Seventeenth-Century British Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes, 2000. 

Library copy

Roth, John K., ed. World Philosophers and Their Works. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 2000.

Library copy

Shook, John, ed. Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, 1860-1960. Bristol: Thoemmes, 2004.

Library copy | E-book

Stockhammer, Morris. Plato Dictionary. London: Vision, 1963.

Library copy

Watkin, Julia. Historical Dictionary of Kierkegaard's Philosophy. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001.

Library copy

Yolton, John W., John Valdimir Price and John Stephens, eds. The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century British Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1999.

Library copy 


World philosophies Top of page

Brown, Stephen F., and Juan Carlos Flores. Historical Dictionary of Medieval Philosophy and Theology. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2007.

Library copy

Bunnin, Nicholas, and Jiyuan Yu. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.

Library copy

Carr, Brian, and Indira Mahalingam, eds. Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1997.

Library copy | E-book

Critchley, Simon, and William R. Schroeder, eds. A Companion to Continental Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.

Library copy | E-book

Deutsch, Eliot, and Ronald Bontekoe. A Companion to World Philosophies. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.

Library copy | E-book

Harvey, Steven. The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.

Library copy

Leaman, Oliver, ed. Biographical Encyclopaedia of Islamic Philosophy. Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum, 2006.

Library copy

---. Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy. New York: Routledge , 2001.

Library copy | E-book

---. Key Concepts in Eastern Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1999.

Library copy | E-book

Murray, Christopher John, ed. Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004.

Library copy

Taylor, Victor E., and Charles E. Winquist, eds. Encyclopedia of Postmodernism. London: Routledge, 2000.

Library copy | E-book

Zeyl, Donald J., ed. Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997.

Library copy | E-book


History of ideas Top of page

Chapman, Siobhan, and Christopher Routledge, eds. Key Ideas in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005.

Library copy | E-book

Delon, Michel, ed. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001.

Library copy

Gerard, Francois. Liberalism Versus Conservatism: A Bibliography with Indexes. Huntington, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2000.

Library copy

Grendler, Paul F., ed. Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. New York: Scribner's, 1999.

Library copy

---. The Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students. Farmington Hills, MI : Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003.

E-book

Hillerbrand, Hans J., ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 

Library copy | E-book

Hoffman. John. A Glossary of Political Theory. Stanford: Stanford Law and Politics, 2007.

Library copy | E-book

Horowitz, Maryanne Cline, ed. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005.

Library copy | E-book

Kors, Alan Charles, ed. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Library copy | E-book

McLeish, Kenneth, ed. Bloomsbury Guide to Human Thought. London: Bloomsbury Publications, 1993.

E-book

Miller, David, ed. The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 1987.

Library copy | E-book

Miskelly, Matthew, and Jaime Noce, eds. Political Theories for Students. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Group, c2002.

E-book

Nauert, Charles G. Historical Dictionary of the Renaissance. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2004.

Library copy

Pike, Jon. Political Philosophy A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007.

Library copy | E-book

Rohmann, Chris. A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs and Thinkers. New York: Ballantine, 1999.

Library copy

Sheldon, Garrett Ward, ed. Encyclopedia of Political Thought. New York: Facts on File, 2001.

Library copy

Yolton, John W. The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.

Library copy

 Campbell, Gordon. The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2003.

Library copyE-book 


Ethics Top of page

Becker, Lawrence C., and Charlotte B. Becker, eds. Encyclopedia of Ethics. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2001.

Library copy | E-book

Dauvergne, Peter. Handbook of Global Environmental Politics. Northampton, MA: E. Elgar 2005.

Library copy | E-book

Duval, R. Shannon, ed. Encyclopedia of Ethics. New York: Facts On File, 1999.

Library copy

Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998.

Library copy

Frey, R. G., and Christopher Heath Wellman, eds. A Companion to Applied Ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003.

Library copy

Jacobs, Jonathan A. Ethics A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005.

Library copy

Macdonald, Barrie I., and Michel Petheram. Keyguide to Information Sources in Media Ethics. Washington, D.C.: Mansell, 1998.

Library copy

Murray, Thomas H., and Maxwell J. Mehlman. Encyclopedia of Ethical, Legal, and Policy Issues in Biotechnology. New York: John Wiley, 2000

Library copy

Post, Stephen G., ed. Encyclopedia of Bioethics. 3rd ed. Farmington Hills, MI : Macmillan Reference USA, 2003.

Library copy | E-book

Singer, Peter, ed.  A Companion to Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell Reference, 1991.

Library copy | E-book


Feminist theory Top of page

Braidotti, Rosi, comp. Women's Studies and Philosophy: An International Bibliography on Feminist Sources With an Accent on Sexual Differences and Theories of the Subject. Utrecht: Interfaculty Dept. of Women's Studies, University of Utrecht, 1990.

Library copy

Code, Lorraine, ed. Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories. London: Routledge, 2000.

Library copy | E-book

Gardner, Catherine Villanueva. Historical Dictionary of Feminist Philosophy. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006.

Library copy | E-book

Hughes, Christina. Key Concepts in Feminist Theory and Research. London: SAGE, 2002.

Library copy | E-book

Humm, Maggie. The Dictionary of Feminist Theory. 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1995.

Library copy

McHugh, Nancy Arden. Feminist Philosophies A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007.

E-book

Pilcher, Jane, and Imelda Whelehan. 50 Key Concepts in Gender Studies. London: SAGE, 2004.

Library copy | E-book

Sartori, Eva Martin, ed. The Feminist Encyclopedia of French Literature. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999.

Library copy | E-book


Philosophy of Religion Top of page

Quinn, Philip, and Charles Taliaferro, eds. A Companion to the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997.

Library copy | E-book

Thiselton, Anthony C. A Concise Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Oneworld, 2002.

Library copy

Whitney, Barry L. Theodicy: An Annotated Bibliography on the Problem of Evil, 1960-1990. New York : Garland, 1993.

Library copy


World religions Top of page

Lopez, Donald S. Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2005.

E-book

Bowker, John, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Library copies

Buswell, Robert E., ed. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. New York: Macmillan, USA, 2004.

Library copy | E-book

Dallapiccola, Anna L. Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002.

Library copy

Esposito, John L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford UP, 2003.

Library copy | E-book

Hastings, Adrian, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper, eds. The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Library copy

Jones, Lindsay, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005.

E-book

Keown, Damien. A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003.

Library copy | E-book

Klostermaier, Klaus. A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Oxford: Oneworld, 1998.

Library copy

New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.

Library copy

Schumacher, Stephan, and Gert Woerner, eds. The Rider Encyclopaedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Hinduism. London: Rider, 1999.

Library copy


Philosophy of science Top of page

Psillos, Stathis. Philosophy of Science A-Z. Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 2007.

E-book

Regal, Brian. Human Evolution: A Guide to the Debates. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2004.

Library copy | E-book


Databases Top of page

Blackwell Reference Online

Credo Reference cContains dictionaries and encyclopedias in philosophy.

Gale Virtual Reference Library is a collection of online reference books containing several titles relevant to philosophy.

Oxford Reference Online has some philosophy dictionaries and guides. 

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives biographical information on philosophers who lived in the British Isles. Does not cover living people.

Reference Universe indexes reference books.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an online encyclopedia of philosophy and political theory.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an online encyclopedia of philosophy. This encyclopedia is a work in progress.


Further reference pages Top of page

General Reference | Philosophy internet reference sites

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File Last updated: February 15, 2010