Welcome
Welcome to the library portal for Philosophy. This portal provides quick links to the resources you need to succeed in your course. Whether you are online or on-Grounds, UVA Library services and support are available to all students.
Your Librarian
Your Librarian is Chris Ruotolo
Each school/department at UVA is assigned a research librarian. 
You can connect with Chris at any point during the semester for help with your research and assignments in Philosophy. Meeting with a librarian early in your research process can help you save time and obtain better results.
Chris can help with: learning how to use the Library's online catalog and databases, finding books and journal articles in print and electronic format, refining your research topic and your search strategies, and managing your citations. She can meet with you in-person or online via Zoom.
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Sign up for Library orientations, workshops, and events with our online calendar. UVA Library programming is offered in-person and online.
Search Philosophy databases
Academic databases contain peer-reviewed articles, scientific papers, reports, and more. These are the most used databases for Philosophy research.
- PhilPapers This link opens in a new windowPhilPapers is a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy research, drawn from journals, books, open access archives, and personal pages maintained by academics. PhilPapers also hosts the largest open access archive in philosophy.
- Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new windowLists and abstracts books and articles in over 300 journals from philosophy and related disciplines. Our license only allows for 4 simultaneous users
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy This link opens in a new windowPeer-reviewed and updated quarterly. Search the full text or browse a table of contents.
- Past Masters This link opens in a new windowFull-text e-books of classic works in philosophy, religion, and literature; features works by Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and many more.
Search multidisciplinary databases
These databases contain scholarly articles across a broad range of disciplines.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowLarge general database of articles from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers on many topics. Also includes reference books (World Almanac, American Heritage Dictionary), biographies, speeches, images, and other primary source documents.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text backfiles of many important scholarly journals. Coverage is usually from the first issue to 3-5 years before the present.
Consult dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks
The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy by
This bestselling dictionary is written by one of the leading philosophers of our time, and it is widely recognized as the best dictionary of its kind. Comprehensive and authoritative, it covers every aspect of philosophy from Aristotle to Zen. With clear and concise definitions, it provideslively and accessible coverage of not only Western philosophical traditions, but also themes from Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophy.Entries include over 400 biographies of famous and influential philosophers, in-depth analysis of philosophical terms and concepts, and a chronology of philosophical events stretching from 10,000 BC to the present day. New entries on philosophy of economics, social theory, neuroscience, philosophyof the mind, and moral conceptions bring the third edition of this dictionary fully up to date.Fully cross-referenced and containing over 3,300 alphabetical entries, it is the ideal introduction to philosophy for anyone with an interest in the subject, and it is an indispensable work of reference for students and teachers.
Call Number: B41.B53 2016ISBN: 9780198735304Publication Date: 2016-05-01
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy by
This is the leading, full-scale comprehensive dictionary of philosophical terms and thinkers to appear in English in more than half a century. Written by a team of more than 550 experts and now widely translated, it contains approximately 5,000 entries ranging from short definitions to longer articles. It is designed to facilitate the understanding of philosophy at all levels and in all fields. Key features of this third edition include: * 500 new entries covering Eastern as well as Western philosophy, and covering individual countries such as China, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain * Increased coverage of such growing fields as ethics and philosophy of mind * More than 100 new intellectual portraits of leading contemporary thinkers * Wider coverage of Continental philosophy * Dozens of new technical concepts in cognitive science and other areas * Enhanced cross-referencing to add context and increase understanding * Expansions in both text and index to facilitate research and browsing
Call Number: B41.C35 2015ISBN: 9781139057509Publication Date: 2015-08-05
Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy by
The Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy is a reference work on the philosophy of Greek and Roman antiquity. It includes subjects and figures from the dawn of philosophy in Ionia in the 6th century BC to the demise of the Academy in Athens in the 6th century AD. Scholarly study of the texts and philosophical thought of this period has been, during the last half of the 20th century, amazingly productive and has become increasingly sophisticated. The 269 articles in the encyclopedia reflect this development. While the majority of the articles are devoted to individual figures, many of the articles are thematic surveys of broad areas such as epistemology, ethics, and political thought. Some articles focus on particular concepts that evoked significant philosophical treatment by the ancients, and have proved central to later thought. Other articles treat fields that are no longer considered part of philosophy proper, such as mathematics and science. There are articles examining areas of intellectual or cultural endeavour, such as poetry or rhetoric, or genres of philosophical expression, such as dialogue and diatribe. Still others describe the historical developments of philosophical schools and traditions. The encyclopedia includes a chronology and guide to further reading. Best Reference Source
Call Number: B163.E53 2013ebISBN: 9781306076333Publication Date: 2013-01-01
The Routledge Companion to Medieval Philosophy by
Like any other group of philosophers, scholastic thinkers from the Middle Ages disagreed about even the most fundamental of concepts. With their characteristic style of rigorous semantic and logical analysis, they produced a wide variety of diverse theories about a huge number of topics. The Routledge Companion to Medieval Philosophy offers readers an outstanding survey of many of these diverse theories, on a wide array of subjects. Its 35 chapters, all written exclusively for this Companion by leading international scholars, are organized into seven parts: I Language and Logic II Metaphysics III Cosmology and Physics IV Psychology V Cognition VI Ethics and Moral Philosophy VII Political Philosophy In addition to shedding new light on the most well-known philosophical debates and problems of the medieval era, the Companion brings to the fore topics that may not traditionally be associated with scholastic philosophy, but were in fact a veritable part of the tradition. These include chapters covering scholastic theories about propositions, atomism, consciousness, and democracy and representation. The Routledge Companion to Medieval Philosophy is a helpful, comprehensive introduction to the field for undergraduate students and other newcomers as well as a unique and valuable resource for researchers in all areas of philosophy.
Call Number: B721.R68 2021ISBN: 9781315709604Publication Date: 2021-01-12
The Routledge Companion to Feminist Philosophy by
The Routledge Companion to Feminist Philosophy is an outstanding guide and reference source to the key topics, subjects, thinkers, and debates in feminist philosophy. Fifty-six chapters, written by an international team of contributors specifically for the Companion, are organized into five sections: (1) Engaging the Past; (2) Mind, Body, and World; (3) Knowledge, Language, and Science; (4) Intersections; (5) Ethics, Politics, and Aesthetics. The volume provides a mutually enriching representation of the several philosophical traditions that contribute to feminist philosophy. It also foregrounds issues of global concern and scope; shows how feminist theory meshes with rich theoretical approaches that start from transgender identities, race and ethnicity, sexuality, disabilities, and other axes of identity and oppression; and highlights the interdisciplinarity of feminist philosophy and the ways that it both critiques and contributes to the whole range of subfields within philosophy.
Call Number: HQ1190.R68 2017ISBN: 9781315758152Publication Date: 2017-09-19
The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Race by
For many decades, race and racism have been common areas of study in departments of sociology, history, political science, English, and anthropology. Much more recently, as the historical concept of race and racial categories have faced significant scientific and political challenges, philosophers have become more interested in these areas. This changing understanding of the ontology of race has invited inquiry from researchers in moral philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and aesthetics. The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Race offers in one comprehensive volume newly written articles on race from the world's leading analytic and continental philosophers. It is, however, accessible to a readership beyond philosophy as well, providing a cohesive reference for a wide student and academic readership. The Companion synthesizes current philosophical understandings of race, providing 37 chapters on the history of philosophy and race as well as how race might be investigated in the usual frameworks of contemporary philosophy. The volume concludes with a section on philosophical approaches to some topics with broad interest outside of philosophy, like colonialism, affirmative action, eugenics, immigration, race and disability, and post-racialism. By clearly explaining and carefully organizing the leading current philosophical thinking on race, this timely collection will help define the subject and bring renewed understanding of race to students and researchers in the humanities, social science, and sciences.
Call Number: HT1521.R686 2018ISBN: 9781134655717Publication Date: 2017-11-28
