Contents:
Why use reference books?
Reference books on philosophers 
Reference books by topic 
Humanities research methods
Voyager searches
Reference databases

Why use reference books?

Reference books are a good place to start researching a topic, because the information is brief and written by experts. Use reference books for concise introductions, facts, or definitions. Some are in print, some are online. Many of the books are located in the Arts Reference Collection, Level 1, General Library.You can find reference material by searching Voyager with these types of searches. 

The reference books listed below are a selection of philosophy reference sources available at the University of Auckland Library. 

Links are to the Voyager record.  

The titles are cited according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. Where a book is available online as an e-book, you need to be logged on with your Net ID and Net Password to access the e-book link. This list is not a comprehensive list.  Search Voyager using subject or keyword searches to find all material the Library has on a specific topic.

Philosophers

• Arrington, Robert L., ed. A Companion to the Philosophers. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. Also available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary.
• Brown, Stuart, ed. Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005.
• Brown, Stuart, Diané Collinson, Robert Wilkinson, eds. One Hundred Twentieth-Century Philosophers. London: Routledge, 1998. Available as an e-book via the Library database Ebrary.
• Bunge, Wiep van, ed. The Dictionary of Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Dutch Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes, 2003.
• Cartwright, David E. Historical Dictionary of Schopenhauer's Philosophy. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2005.
• Caygill, Howard. A Kant Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell Reference, 1995. Also available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary. 
• Directory of American Philosophers. Bowling Green, Ohio: Philosophy Documentation Center.
• Hackett, Jeremiah. Medieval Philosophers. Detroit: Gale Research, c1992.
• Inwood, Michael J. A Hegel Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992. Also available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary.
  ---. A Heidegger Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. Available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary.
• International Directory of Philosophy and Philosophers. Bowling Green, Ohio: Philosophy Documentation Center, Bowling Green University.
• Lapointe, François H., comp. Søren Kierkegaard and His Critics: an International Bibliography of Criticism. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980.
• Martinich, Aloysius. A Hobbes Dictionary. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995. Available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary.
• Nordquist, Joan, comp. French Feminist Theory. III, Luce Irigaray and Helene Cixous: a Bibliography. Santa Cruz: Reference and Research Services, 1996.
• Nordquist, Joan, comp. Julia Kristeva (II): A Bibliography. Santa Cruz: Reference and Research Services, 1995.
• Nordquist, Joan, comp. Simone de Beauvoir: A Bibliography. Santa Cruz: Reference and Research Services, 1991.
• Parker, Noel, and Stuart Sim. The A-Z Guide to Modern Social and Political Theorists. London : Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997.
• Pyle, Andrew, ed. The Dictionary of Seventeenth-Century British Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes, 2000. 
• Roth, John K., ed. World Philosophers and Their Works. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 2000.
• Shook, John, ed. Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, 1860-1960. Bristol: Thoemmes, 2004.
• Stockhammer, Morris. Plato Dictionary. London: Vision, 1963.
• Watkin, Julia. Historical Dictionary of Kierkegaard's Philosophy. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001.
• Yolton, John W., John Valdimir Price and John Stephens, eds. The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century British Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1999. 

Reference books by topic

1. General
2. History of ideas
3. World philosophies
4. Ethics
5. Feminist theory
6. Philosophy of religion
7. World religions

General 

• Audi, Robert, ed. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Credo Reference.
• Baergen, Ralph. Historical Dictionary of Epistemology. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006.
• Blaauw, Martijn, and Duncan Pritchard. Epistemology A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, c2005.
• Blackburn, Simon. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Oxford Reference Online. 
• Borchert, Donald M. Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2nd ed. Detroit, Mich.: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Craig, Edward, ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1998 Also available online.  See the Reference Databases section. 
• Edwards, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Macmillan, 1967.
• Flew, Antony, and Stephen Priest, eds. A Dictionary of Philosophy. Aylesbury: Market House Books, 2002. Available as an e-book via the Library database Credo Reference. 
• Gregory, Richard L., ed. Oxford Companion to the Mind. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Honderich, Ted, ed. Oxford Companion to Philosophy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. This is also available as an e-book via the Library database Oxford Reference Online. 
• Jacobs, Jonathan A. Ethics A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005.
• Kelly, Michael, ed. Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Pence, Gregory. A Dictionary of Common Philosophical Terms. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2000.

History of ideas

• Delon, Michel, ed. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001.
• Gerard, Francois. Liberalism Versus Conservatism: A Bibliography with Indexes. Huntington, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2000.
• Grendler, Paul F., ed. Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. New York: Scribner's, 1999.
• ---. The Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students. Farmington Hills, MI : Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. Available as an e-book via the Library database Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Hillerbrand, Hans J., ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.  Also available as an e-book via the Library database Oxford Reference Online.
• Horowitz, Maryanne Cline, ed. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Kors, Alan Charles, ed. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Oxford Reference Online.
• Miller, David, ed. The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought. Oxford: Blackwell, 1987. Also available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary. 
• Miskelly, Matthew, and Jaime Noce, eds. Political Theories for Students. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Group, c2002. Available as an e-book via the Librarydatabase Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Nauert, Charles G. Historical Dictionary of the Renaissance. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2004.
• Rohmann, Chris. A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs and Thinkers. New York: Ballantine, 1999.
• Sheldon, Garrett Ward, ed. Encyclopedia of Political Thought. New York: Facts on File, 2001.
• Yolton, John W. The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.
•  Campbell, Gordon. The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2003. Also available as an  e-book via the Library database Oxford Reference Online.

World philosophies

• Brown, Stephen F., and Juan Carlos Flores. Historical Dictionary of Medieval Philosophy and Theology. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2007.
• Bunnin, Nicholas, and Jiyuan Yu. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.
• Carr, Brian, and Indira Mahalingam, eds. Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1997.
• Critchley, Simon, and William R. Schroeder, eds. A Companion to Continental Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. Also available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary.
• Deutsch, Eliot, and Ronald Bontekoe. A Companion to World Philosophies. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. Also available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary.
• Harvey, Steven. The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
• Leaman, Oliver, ed. Biographical Encyclopaedia of Islamic Philosophy. Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum, 2006.
• ---. Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy. New York: Routledge , 2001. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Ebrary.
• ---. Key Concepts in Eastern Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1999. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Ebrary.
• Murray, Christopher John, ed. Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004.
• Schumacher, Stephan, and Gert Woerner, eds. The Rider Encyclopaedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Hinduism. London: Rider, 1999.
• Taylor, Victor E., and Charles E. Winquist, eds. Encyclopedia of Postmodernism. London: Routledge, 2000. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Ebrary.
• Zehl, Donald J., ed. Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997.

Ethics

• Becker, Lawrence C., and Charlotte B. Becker, eds. Encyclopedia of Ethics. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2001.
• Duval, R. Shannon, ed. Encyclopedia of Ethics. New York: Facts On File, 1999.
• Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998.
• Frey, R. G., and Christopher Heath Wellman, eds. A Companion to Applied Ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell, c2003.
• Macdonald, Barrie I., and Michel Petheram. Keyguide to Information Sources in Media Ethics. Washington, D.C.: Mansell, 1998.
• Murray, Thomas H., and Maxwell J. Mehlman. Encyclopedia of Ethical, Legal, and Policy Issues in Biotechnology. New York: John Wiley, 2000.
• Post, Stephen G., ed. Encyclopedia of Bioethics. 3rd ed. Farmington Hills, MI : Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. Available as an e-book via the Library database Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Singer, Peter, ed.  A Companion to Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell Reference, 1991. Also available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary.

Feminist theory

• 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.
• Code, Lorraine, ed. Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories. London: Routledge, 2000. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Ebrary.
• Gardner, Catherine Villanueva. Historical Dictionary of Feminist Philosophy. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2006.
• Humm, Maggie. The Dictionary of Feminist Theory. 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1995.
• Sartori, Eva Martin, ed. The Feminist Encyclopedia of French Literature. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999. Also available as an ebook via the Library database Ebrary.

Philosophy of Religion

• Quinn, Philip, and Charles Taliaferro, eds. A Companion to the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997. Also available as an e-book via the Library database netLibrary.
• Thiselton, Anthony C. A Concise Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Oneworld, 2002.
• Whitney, Barry L. Theodicy: An Annotated Bibliography on the Problem of Evil, 1960-1990. New York : Garland, 1993.

World religions 

• Bowker, John, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Buswell, Robert E., ed. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. New York: Macmillan, USA, 2004. Also available as an e-book via the Library database Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Dallapiccola, Anna L. Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend. London: Thames & Hudson, 2002.
• Esposito, John L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Also available online via the Library database Oxford Reference Online. 
• Hastings, Adrian, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper, eds. The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Jones, Lindsay, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Available as an e-book via the Library database Gale Virtual Reference Library.
• Keown, Damien. A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003. Also available online via the Library database Oxford Reference Online.
• Klostermaier, Klaus. A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Oxford: Oneworld, 1998.
• New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.

Humanities research methods

1. Thesauri
2. Style manuals

Thesauri

Thesauri covering a specific subject give you terminology to use when searching reference tools, such as a print or online index.

• APAIS Thesaurus: A List of Subject Terms Used in APAIS; the Australian Public Affairs Information Service. 7th ed. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2000. Also available online.
• Capek, Mary Ellen S., ed. A Women's Thesaurus: An Index of Language Used to Describe and Locate Information By and About Women. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
• Berman, Barbara L. Library of Congress Subject Headings in Philosophy: A Thesaurus. Charlottesville, Va.: Philosophy Documentation Center, 2001. 
• Dickstein, Ruth, Victoria A. Mills, and Ellen J. Waite, eds. Women in LC's Terms: A Thesaurus of Library of Congress Subject Headings Relating to Women. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1988.
• Knapp, Sara.  The Contemporary Thesaurus of Search Terms and Synonyms: A Guide for Natural Language Computer Searching. 2nd ed. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 2000.
• The Philosopher's Index Thesaurus. Rev. 2nd ed. Revisions by Kelly M. Broughton. Bowling Green, Ohio: Philosophy Documentation Center.

Style manuals

• The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. 

Voyager searches 

Search for encyclopedias or dictionaries on a topic by combining the keyword encyclopedias or the keyword dictionaries with a word or phrase for your topic, eg:

Boolean Keyword search
philosophy and encyclopedias
kant and dictionaries

Alternatively, use the Library of Congress subject heading for your topic followed by the subject subdivision 'Encyclopedias' or the subject subdivision 'Dictionaries',  eg:

Subject Heading search
Philosophy, Asian Encyclopedias
Philosophy Dictionaries

Reference databases 

• Blackwell Reference Online
• Cambridge Collections Online
• Gale Virtual Reference Library is a collection of online reference books containing several titles relevant to philosophy.
• netLibrary 
  The netLibrary Reference Center section contains many philosophy reference titles. 
• Oxford Reference Online
  Online reference collection containing Oxford University Press dictionaries and companion guides. 
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  Biographical information on people who lived in the British Isles, from earliest times to 2001. Does not cover living people.
• Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  Online encyclopedia of philosophy and political theory.
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  Online encyclopedia of philosophy, with contributions from around the world. This encyclopedia is a work in progress.
• Credo Reference
  Contains dictionaries, directories and encyclopedias covering all disciplines.

Further reference pages on the Library website

• General Reference 
• Philosophy internet reference sites