Philosophy: Books & eBooks

Information on books, journals, databases and other useful philosophy resources.

Where in the Library?

Most print material related to philosophy can be found in the 100s on level 4 of the James Joyce Library.

Language dictionaries can also be found on level 4.

Finding Books using OneSearch

Watch a short tutorial on how to find print books and ebooks using OneSearch:

Short Loan & 4-Hour Collections

Short Loan Collection

The Short Loan Collection (SLC) contains multiple copies of books in demand, or on reading lists and can be borrowed for 7 days.

4-Hour Collection

The 4-Hour Loan collection contains items that are in very high demand at certain times of the year. You can borrow and take these books anywhere in the Library, but they cannot be taken out of the Library building.

Books for Philosophy

Books and eBooks are listed in OneSearch, our resource discovery service. You can also browse the collection to find books for your research. The relevant shelf marks include, but are not limited to:

101–109 Standard subdivisions of philosophy
110 Metaphysics
120 Epistemology, causation, humankind
130 Parapsychology and occultism
140 Specific philosophical schools and viewpoints
150 Psychology
160 Philosophical logic
170 Ethics (Moral philosophy)
180 Ancient, medieval, eastern philosophy
190 Modern western and other non-eastern philosophy

A selection of useful book titles available via UCD Library include:

Early English Books Online (Proquest) This link opens in a new window
Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700 - from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (Gale) This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive digital edition of The Eighteenth Century, the world's largest library of the printed book on microfilm.

Books and eBooks are listed in OneSearch, our resource discovery service. Useful ebook titles and ebook databases available via UCD Library include:

ACLS Humanities E-Books This link opens in a new window
This comprehensive electronic library consists of scholarly and peer reviewed books in the humanities.

Academic Complete
A multidisciplinary collection of over 180,000 scholarly titles from hundreds of leading academic publishers. eBooks are made available on ProQuest's eBook Central platform. Offers unlimited, multi-user access. To view content for specific disciplines, simply select from the "Browse Subject" option page

Reference items are helpful for finding background information; definitions and spelling; facts and figures; translations; statistics and topical overviews of subjects. Reference books can be found both in print and online. See here for further information

Useful online reference material for Philosophy include:

Cambridge Companions This link opens in a new window
Cambridge Companions are a series of authoritative guides, written by leading experts, offering lively, accessible introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics, and periods.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A peer-reviewed, open access resource which provides scholarly information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy This link opens in a new window
REP Online contains more than 2000 articles, from Aristotle to Nominalism and from Personal Identity to Zeno of Elea.
Sage Knowledge This link opens in a new window
Covering the social and behavioural sciences, SAGE Knowledge provides access to thousands of scholarly eBooks published by SAGE. The collection also includes hundreds of award-winning reference titles including subject encyclopedias, dictionaries and handbooks which provide students with the perfect place to start their research.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Freely available online. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others. (source: UNESCO)

A Concise Introduction to Logic
An introduction to formal logic suitable for undergraduates taking a general education course in logic or critical thinking, and is accessible and useful to any interested in gaining a basic understanding of logic.
Directory of Open Access Books
DOAB is a community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed open access books and helps users to find trusted open access book publishers. All DOAB services are free of charge and all data is freely available.
Learning from Arguments: An Introduction to Philosophy
This book advances accessible versions of key philosophical arguments, in a form that students can emulate in their own writing, and with the primary aim of cultivating an understanding of the dynamics of philosophical argumentation.
OER Commons
OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. Explore, create, and collaborate with educators around the world to improve curriculum
Pressbooks Directory
Pressbooks Directory is a free, searchable catalog that includes 5,387 open access books published by 157 organizations and networks using Pressbooks. It's easy to copy, revise, remix, and redistribute any openly licensed content found here using Pressbooks' publishing platform. Nearly all books are highly accessible, and many include interactive H5P learning activities to engage learners.
Sapientia
The text is designed for use in an introductory course on philosophy in a community college classroom.
Deliberative Rhetoric: Arguing about Doing
Christian Kock’s essays show the essential interconnectedness of practical reasoning, rhetoric and deliberative democracy. They constitute a unique contribution to argumentation theory that draws on – and criticizes – the work of philosophers, rhetoricians, political scientists and other argumentation theorists.

Special Collections

Special Collections contains unique book, archival and manuscript collections. UCD students and staff, and external users can consult the collections in the Special Collections reading room. Special Collections is located on Level 1 of the James Joyce Library.