Contemporary Philosophy
April 01, 2000

by Staff, History Collection, Mid-Manhattan Library

This pathfinder provides a guide to reference sources in contemporary philosophy, mainly in the post-World War II period, of both Western and Eastern traditions. These resources are available in the History and Social Sciences Department of the Mid-Manhattan Library. You can search by subject, name of philosophical school or movement, name of philosopher and by geographic region for material on a specific country or ethnic group.

Examples of Terms to Use for Subject Searching:

On philosophical schools and movements:

  • humanism -20th century
  • logical positivism
  • naturalism
  • hermeneutics
  • pragmatism
  • critical theory
  • realism
  • marxist criticism
  • existentialism
  • neo-scholasticism
  • phenomenology
  • transcendentalism
On philosophical subject areas:
  • history-philosophy history-20th century
  • ethics
  • cognition
  • knowledge, theory of
  • aesthetics
  • law-philosophy
  • logic
  • metaphysics
  • morality

On individual philosophers:
Search under the philosopher's name for works by, about and criticism of the thinker's work.

On philosophy of different time periods, gender, country or ethnic group:
philosophy, modern-20th century
women philosophers
philosophers-- [and name of country]
philosophy-- [and name of nationality: Islamic, Indic, Swedish, etc.]

World Overview:

Handbook of World Philosophy: Contemporary Developments Since 1945. Burr, John R. ed. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1980. (Ref 190.904 H)
This book provides a representative sample of world philosophy since 1945, including the major directions and varieties of philosophical reflections and activities. The following regions are covered: I. Western Europe, Australia, Israel; II. Eastern Europe; III. The Americas (Canada, Mexico & Latin America, and the United States); IV. Africa & the Republic of South Africa; V. Islamic Countries; VI. Asia. It also includes selected bibliographies, lists of journals and directories of professional associations. Indexed.

World Philosophy: Essay Reviews of 225 Major Works. Magill, Frank N. New Jersey: Salem Press, 1982. 5 vols. (Ref 100 W)
This work examines the contributions of 225 thinkers. The materials are arranged in chronological order. Indexed.

History of Philosophy Eastern and Western. Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli, ed. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1953. 2vols. (Ref 109 R)
This book reviews man's philosophical quest from the dawn of history. Japan, China, India, Persia, Greece, Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Europe and America are all brought together in one comprehensive study. Vol. 2 covers contemporary western philosophy. Indexed.

Western Overview:

Great Thinkers of the Western World. McGreal, Ian P. ed. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. (Ref 190 G)
This source presents the major ideas of more than 100 important Western philosophers, psychologists, physical and social scientists, theologians and many contemporary thinkers. It is arranged in chronological order according to the thinkers' date of birth and death in the Table of Contents. Indexed.

The Handbook of Western Philosophy. Parkinson, G. H. R. ed. New York: Macmillan, (Ref 190 H)
This is a comprehensive guide to the major currents of contemporary Western philosophy in the Anglo-Saxon tradition. It surveys concepts, theories, themes and controversies in a wide range of topics. It includes an annotated reading list, a glossary of key terms, a chronological table of the history of philosophy since 1600, and a name and subject index.

Main Schools, Movements & Approaches:

Philosophy in the Twentieth Century. Ayer, A. J. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, (Ref 190.904 )
This author presents the views of the leading exponents of two philosophical schools: American pragmatism and the British analytic movement. Indexed.

Praxis and Action: Contemporary Philosophies of Human Activity. Bernstein, Richard J. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971. (Ref. 100 B)
Four major movements of contemporary thought --- Marxism, Existentialism, Pragmatism and Analytic philosophy are examined in terms of their approaches to the concepts of praxis and action. Indexed.

A History of Philosophy. Copleston, Frederick, S.J. New York: Image Book, Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1974. Vol. IX: Modern Philosophy: From the French Revolution to Sartre, Camus, and Levi-Strauss. (109 C)
A brief, but informed presentation of the philosophers major concepts and their influence on others. Extensive footnotes and an appendix listing the works of each thinker. Indexed.

Main Trends in Philosophy. Ricoeur, Paul. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1978. (Ref 190.904 R)
The author presents and criticizes the major philosophical trends. There is an extensive list of cited works. No index.

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias:

There are many useful dictionaries and single and multi-volume encyclopedias available. What follows is a short list of some useful reference sources.

Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Audi, Robert, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995. (Ref 103 C)
This is a compendium of philosophical ideas, thinkers and definitions. It has 4,000 cross-references and guides for further reading and study. There is an emphasis on non-Western philosophical schools.

Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Philosophers. Brown, Stuart, Diane Collinson, and Robert Wilkinson, eds. . London and New York: Routledge, 1996. (Ref 109.2 B)
This work identifies the philosophers main works and lists secondary sources. The entries Indicate the authors' sources. The dictionary is arranged in two parts, the first is the usual alphabetical order; and the second part is a "Guide to Schools and Movements," which provides definitions of varying length, highlighting the names of philosophers associated with the concept. There six separate indexes, one for each of the following: nationality, category (identifying the philosophers associated with a school or concept), interests (which identifies the special areas of concern of each thinker listed under an extensive list of concepts), influences ( under philosophers names from all periods of history are lists of the twentieth century philosophers influenced by them), people (these are the names of admirers, critics, followers of a philosopher), subjects.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Craig, Edward, General Editor. London and New York: Routledge, 1998. Ten volumes. (Ref 100 R)
A major authoritative source for concepts, individuals, movements and schools of thought. The signed entries are followed by annotated bibliographies with asterisks indicating the titles cited in the text. Entries on a philosopher start with a short biography followed by an outline of the accompanying discussion. Volume 10 provides a detailed index of concepts and individuals mentioned in the set.

Periodical Indexes:

Humanities Index. H. W. Wilson, 1974---. (Index Table 2 for current issues; older volumes Are on the reference shelves: Ref 016.0013 H)
A major index to articles in philosophy, ethics and utilitarianism. The subject heading: "Modern philosophy, 20th century," is the heading to use for locating material on contemporary philosophy. Under the subject term "philosophy"' is a list of the major schools and topics. In the back of each volume is a list of book reviews.

Philosopher's Index: An International Index to Philosophical Periodicals and Books. Bowling Green, Ohio: Philosophy Documentation Center, Bowling Green State University, 1940--.(Index Table 2 for current issues; older volumes shelved under Ref 016.1905 P)
This is a subject and author index to articles, books and anthologies. Comprehensive in its coverage, it indexes subject specific and interdisciplinary publications from more than 40 countries.

The Philosopher's Index: A Retrospective Index to U.S. Publications from 1940. Ohio: Philosophy Documentation Center, 1978. 3 Vols. (Ref 016.105 P)
The contents of this index precedes Philosopher's Index mentioned above.

Directories:

Directory of American Philosophers. Bahm, Archie J. ed. Bowling Green, Oh.: Philosophy Documentation Center, Bowling Green State University, 1962-1997. (Ref 191.025 D)
This directory lists colleges and universities philosophical faculty. It includes information about philosophical centers, societies, journals and publishers. The more recent editions includes email and Internet addresses.

International Directory of Philosophy and Philosophers. Cormier, Ramona and Richard H. Lireback, eds. Bowling Green, Oh.: Philosophy Documentation Center, Bowling Green State Univ., 1982--. (Ref 102.5 I)
This biennial publication provides information about on-going philosophical activities around the world. It is a companion source to the previous title. Entries include universities, centers, institutes, societies, journals, publishers and the names and addresses of university philosophers.