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Philosophy

Policy Last Updated: December 1, 2018

Subject: Philosophy

Purpose

The Collection Development policy serves as a guide to shape relevant collections and to ensure consistency in collection development. Decisions to purchase library materials is primarily the responsibility of the Collections Librarian in consultation with faculty in the Department.

Focus

To support teaching, study and research up to the Master‟s level. Secondary critical studies will be selected in relation to specific research and teaching needs of the faculty in the department.

Scope

  • Language: the collection will contain all works of important philosophers, at least in English translation. Major philosophers will be represented in the best critical standard editions; and, in the case of non-English writers, in the language of origin, as well as in English translation. The exception to this guideline would be for languages not written in the Roman alphabet. Secondary critical studies will be preferably in English. Such non-English works, if unavailable in translation, will be collected in the language of origin, if their importance is commonly acknowledged (e.g., as indicated in book reviews,standard bibliographies, etc).
  • Chronological Period: all periods
  • Geographical Areas: all areas
  • Publishers: emphasis on academic publishers

Types, formats, and readership of material collected

  • Materials aimed at academic-level readership are selected
  • Web-based formats for reference sources, journals and indexing sources are preferred. Print and microform are considered for reasons of cost, availability,expected use or long-term access.
  • Single copies of books in print formats are generally selected. Web-based formats are selected on a title-by-title basis, especially if the title is of interest to users at multiple Laurier campuses. Duplication of print across Laurier campuses is generally avoided.
  • Excluded types generally include textbooks, abridgements, study aids, limited editions, works by vanity presses, juvenile literature, audio-visual materials,reprints and partial contents (e.g., single issues of journals, electronic versions of single chapters of books).

Subjects collected and collecting priorities

Collecting priorities are categorized into 3 levels:

A - highest emphasis

The collection includes major published materials required to support the core teaching and research at the highest degree level offered by the Department.

B - secondary emphasis

The collection includes a selection of materials to complement the discipline as a whole, although it may not be a primary focus for courses.

C - selective emphasis

Materials, including reference materials and basic journals and indexes are collected to introduce and define an area.

Subjects collected

Classification

Collecting priority

General Areas

  

Buddhist philosophy

B162

A

Ethics, theoretical and applied

BJ1-BJ1725

A

Existentialism

B819

A

Greek philosophy

B165 - B491.W6

A

Indian philosophy

B130 - B133

A

Language, philosophy of

B840; P101 - P120

A

Logic

BC1 - BC199

C

Medieval philosophy

B720-B785

B

Metaphysics and epistemology

BD95 - BD131; BD143 - BD237

A

Modern philosophy

B790 - B5802

A

Modern philosophy, Early (17th - 19th)

B790 - B5802

A

Science, philosophy of

Q174 - Q175.3

A

Social, political and legal philosophy

B63; B65; H61 - H61.15; HM479.2 - HM499; JM1 - JA84; JC11 -JC273; K230 - K264

A

Special Ares of Concentration

  

Action, philosophy of

BD450

A

Advaita vedanta

B132.V3

A

Autonomy

B808.67

A

Communities

B105.C46

B

Consciousness

B105.C477; B808.9

A

Critical race theory

KF4755

B

Critical theory

B809.2; B3183.5

B

Death

BD443.8 - BD445

A

Dialogue (language and logic)

BC57

A

Duty, obligation, responsibility

BJ1450 - BJ1458

A

Emotions

B105.E46

A

Epicureanism

B512

B

Freedom and determinism

BJ1461

A

Friendship

B105.F75; BJ1533.F8

A

Gender, feminist theory

HQ1190

A

Identity (Philosophical Concept)

BC199.I4; BD236

A

Informal logic

BC60 - BC78

A

Intercultural political philosophy

JA71; JA76

B

Literature, philosophy of

PN49

B

Love

BD436

A

Mind, philosophy of

BD418 - BD418.8

A

Mind-body problem

B105.M55; BD418.3; BF161

A

Modal Logic

BC199.M6

B

Multiculturalism

BD175.5.M84; HM1271

A

Personal / self / narrative / identity

BD331; BD438.5; BF697

A

Materialism / physicalism

B825

A

Phenomenology

B829.5

A

Pragmatism

B832

A

Pre-socratics (in particular, Democritus, Parmenides, Heraclitus)

B187.5 - B305

A

Pyrrhonism (see also skepticism)

B525

A

Qualia

BD418.3

A

Realism

B835

B

Relativism

BH301.R43

B

Self, philosophy of; self-knowledge

BD450

A

Sex, philosophy of; sexual ethics

BD436; HQ12

A

Skepticism

B1499.S4

A

Stoicism

B538

A

Truth

BH301.T77

A

The will

BF608 - BF635; BJ1460 - BJ1468

A

Philosophers

Note: Main call number is given, although it is recognised that individual works may be classified under specific subjects.

 

Aristotle

B400-B491

A

Berkeley, George

B1347-B1349

A

Carnap, Rudolph

B945.C16

B

Davidson, Donald

B945.D384

A

Descartes, Rene

B1830-B1848

A

Dewey, John

B945.D4

A

Epicurus

B570-B573; PA3970.E2

A

Foucault, Michel

B2430.F722

B

Frege, Gottlob

B3245.F2

A

Habermas, Jurgen

B3258.H32

A

Hegel, G.W.F

B2900 - B2949

A

Hobbes, Thomas

B1203 - B1248

A

Hume, David

B1450 - B1499.5

A

James, William

B945.J2

A

Kant, Immanuel

B2750-B2799

A

Leibniz, Gottfried

B2550-B2599

A

Locke, John

B1250-B1298

A

Nietzche, Friedrich

B3310 - B3318

A

Ockham, William of

B765.O3

B

Parfit, Derek

B1649.P37

A

Rawls, John

B945.R28

A

Russell, Bertrand

B1649.R9

B

Sartre, Jean Paul

B2430.S3

A

Schmitt, Carl

JC263.S34

A

Socrates / Plato

B310 - B318; B350 - B398

A

Spinoza, Baruch

B3950-B3999

A

Taylor, Charles

B995.T3

A

Wittgenstein, Ludwig

B3376.W56

A

Addendum

Faculty in the Department of Philosophy have indicated that the works of the following authors should also be acquired.

Alcoff, Linda Martin

Frankfurt, Harry

Nussbaum, Martha

Appiah, Anthony

Fraser, Nancy

Putnam, Hilary

Bordo, Susan

Friedman, Marilyn

Quine, W. V.

Beauvoir, Simone de

Goldie, Peter

Ramsay, Frank

Butler, Judith

Hempel, Carl

Rosenthal, David

Chalmers, David

Horgan Terence

Seager, William

Christman, John

Huxley, Thomas Henry

Searle, John

Churchland, Paul & Patricia

Irigaray, Luce

Shankara, Adi

Dennett, Daniel

Jackson, Frank

Shelby, Tommie

De Sousa, Philip

Kim, Jaegwon

 

Dretske, Fred

Levine, Joseph

 

Dworkin, Gerald

Melnyk, Andrew

 

Dworkin, Ronald

Meyers, Diana T.

 

Flanagan, Owen

Mills, Charles

 

Fodor, Jerry

 

 

Related programs and support

Consortial purchases with the TriUniversity Group of Libraries (Guelph, Waterloo, Laurier university libraries), with the Ontario Council of University Libraries, and on a national level, are pursued.