LibGuides: Philosophy and Political Theory: Philosophy Research

Finding Books and Media

You can find books, media (like DVDs and CDs) and other items in the Library's collection by using the Egan Library Catalog (ALC).

Search the Egan Library Catalog

Tip! If you find an item in our catalog that is not available in Egan Library, but is at one of the participating libraries, simply place a hold on the item. It will be delivered to your home library, and you will be notified when it is ready for check-out.

Philosophy Research Books

Much of our more current Philosophy books are in an e-book format available online. You can find these through Ebsco e-books or OneSearch (links below). You can find out more about using these resources through our e-books guide:

E-books at UAS Libraries Guide

eBook Collection (Ebsco) This link opens in a new window Find eBooks selected for purchase specifically by the Egan Library, as well as Ebsco's growing eBook Academic Collection, our largest multidisciplinary eBook collection.
Download sections of books via the print or save functions, or read in your browser.
OneSearch This link opens in a new window Use OneSearch to search the library catalog, including ebooks and most of the journal collection. View tutorial:

Highlighted Databases for Philosophy

While many databases available through the Egan Library will have some information on Philosophy, the following resources may be more useful for specific research:

Religion and Philosophy Collection This link opens in a new window
This is an Ebsco database, and Ebsco tries to make targeted databases for searching specific topics. The advanced search has many options, including limiting to Full Text. At the top there is also a page for Subjects - here you can search or browse the subjects, like Ethics or Logic. The Religion & Philosophy Collection is a comprehensive database covering such topics as world religions, major denominations, biblical studies, religious history, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of language, moral philosophy and the history of philosophy. This database offers more than 300 full text journals, including more than 250 peer-reviewed titles, making it an essential tool for researchers and students of theology and philosophical studies.
This database offers more than 300 full text journals, including more than 250 peer-reviewed titles, making it an essential tool for researchers and students of theology and philosophical studies.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Ebsco considers Academic Search Premier to be the starting place for research in their databases. As such, it contains Philosophy - and a whole lot more. Here the Subjects page allows you to search by subjects, places, and people. People, in particular, is useful for looking up Philosophers! Large multidisciplinary database providing full text access to almost 4,700 scholarly publications including nearly 3,600 peer-reviewed journals. Subject coverage includes, but is not limited to, social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies. Updated daily.
Subject coverage includes, but is not limited to, social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies. Updated daily.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
Another Ebsco portal, this one has different journals than the Philosophy and Religion collection. It contains all of the Humanities, so it contains more than that! The Thesaurus option at the top is the same as the "Subject" boxes in the other Ebsco databases. The database indexes, abstracts and delivers the full text of feature articles, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original works of fiction, drama, and poetry, book reviews, and reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, operas, plays, radio and television programs, and more.

Oxford Reference Online
This link leads to the Philosophy subject page. Make sure the "Show Full Text Results Only" button on the left is clicked, and then you can use the "Search Within Results" box or the "Narrow Your Choices" options to further your search. Also note the variety of sorting options - none of which is "relevancy."
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A database containing over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference books published by Oxford University Press. The reference books can be browsed and searched and include the subjects art, artists, architecture, design, language dictionaries, biology, ecology, plant sciences, zoology, classics, computing, environmental sciences, economics and business, dictionaries and thesauruses, english language reference, food and drink, history, law, literature, maps, medicine, military history, mythology and folk-lore, place names, performing arts, physical sciences and mathematics, politics and social sciences, quotations, religion and philosophy, and science.
JSTOR
Use the advanced search for best results - there you can limit to content we have access to, as well as to the subject of Philosophy in particular!
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An archive of entire runs of 19th and 20th century scholarly journals. Disciplines of journals include African American Studies, Anthropology, Biological Sciences, Botany, Business, Ecology, Education, History, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, and Statistics. Page images of journal contents may be viewed, printed, and downloaded.

Dissertations

Digital Dissertations
To search specifically for Dissertations you can select them as an option in the "Source Type" section. Of course, you can also use this portal for other Philosophy searches! Once you have results, it provides some handy "Related Searches" you can try.
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Free access to the most current two years of citations and abstracts in the ProQuest Dissertation Abstracts database.

WorldCat Dissertations This link opens in a new window
WorldCat, made by librarians, has some of the most search limiting options out there. Generally, you want to have a plan before you run a search. For getting access to items, notice you can access Interlibrary Loan either through ILLiad links, or through LinkSource. A database of all the dissertations and theses available through WorldCat, the international library catalog.
Index - not all entries available in full text. If the article you need is not available, contact Egan Library. The Library may be able to obtain it using interlibrary loan.

Philosophy Research Websites

Try these sites for Philosophy in general, or for Ethics, or Logic, check out the pages on this guide!

PhilPapers: Online Research in Philosophy
PhilPapers has a solid advanced search. You can also use three different "Search Modes" - for lots of customization in your searching.
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PhilPapers has access to a variety of journals, books, philosopher's websites, and more. Not all articles it has indexed are available full text.
Philosophy Compass
Philosophy Compass is set up like a blog, published like a journal, and search is not its main purpose. Check out the "Sections" to find articles relevant to your needs!
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From the Philosophy Compass website: "Philosophy Compass is an online-only journal publishing peer-reviewed survey articles of the most important research from and current thinking from across the entire discipline."
Directory of Open Access Journals
Open access journals might lack some of the peer-reviewed and editorial standards of other journals; what you find here should be treated with a discerning mind. However, open access journals are also a great way to find international scholarship. Find Philosophy under the Social Sciences.
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DOAJ is a directory of free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals, covering all subjects and many languages.