ray@bgsuvax.UUCP (David Ray) (10/18/85)
What do you think of a new encyclopedia of philosophy? Is it something you would use in your philosophical research? Do existing philosophical encyclopedias supply enough of the right information to satisfy your research needs? If not, in what area(s) do they fail? How much revision, if any, is needed of these works? ------------- These are questions the Philosophy Documentation Center (publishers of the PHILOSOPHER'S INDEX and assorted bibliographies and journals) is asking philosophers right now in a large-scale feasibility study. net.philosophy could be a good source of input! Mail any comments you might have along these lines to me and I will get back to you. Will post the results, significant developments, or widely shared views if the group shows sufficient interest.
ray@bgsuvax.UUCP (David Ray) (11/04/85)
This posting has to do with reference sources, research needs and interests,
and philosophy:
The last philosophical encyclopedia that claimed to be comprehensive, and was
commonly acknowledged as such, came out in 1967. (Many of its articles and
bibliographies were written or compiled between the years 1962 and 1965.)
I am referring to Paul Edwards' (and his contributors') excellent work, viz.
*The Encyclopedia of Philosophy*.
Much has happenned in the fields of philosophy and library science since
that work. There are some things philosophers want to know in the way of
quick reference that cannot be found in Edwards (or other existing
philosophical encyclopedias). There are some things librarians cannot
offer because of the way these works limit access to information.
So: Do you think a new philosophical encyclopedia is warranted
given the research needs of philosophers, academics in cognate areas, and lay-
persons? Is one needed given the requirements of reference librarians?
Comments along these lines might include views on the range of issues that
deserve coverage, the proper treatment of these issues, probable audience,
length, price, and format. (Of special interest re this last area are
online possibilities--*Academic Americana Encyclopedia* has been a full-text
database for some time; do you think it is time to repeat this?)
Send all written correspondence to:
David Michael Ray
Project Director
Philosophy Documentation Center
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, Ohio 43403-1089
Send all e-mail to:
David Ray
Bowling Green State University
David Ray