Home » Mind & Soul » Philosophy » Philosophy Research Base: An Essential Resource

Philosophy Research Base: An Essential Resource

© Frederic Giacobazzi

Philosophy teachers well know, and philosophy students soon learn, that systematic research on the Internet will reveal the inevitable limitations or manifest shortcomings of many of the available resources. Yet, a small but growing number of excellent sites there are, and these continue to improve. In that category stands the Philosophy Research Base, an ambitious and promising effort to provide an online meta-index with powerful search functions for philosophical research.

Billing itself as "a service for the online network of worldwide philosophers," the Philosophy Research Base provides thousands of annotated links divided into fifteen different webs, each with its own site index, which combine history, subjects and authors in such philosophical categories as Ancient, Medieval, 19th-Century, 20th-Century, American, and several more. A powerful search function is provided in each of the webs. Visitors are promised: "Use the search engine. If what you are looking for is in the index, the search engine will find it." A very large list of resources and links to additional tools, directories, reference works, texts, and journals makes the site a true clearinghouse and gateway.

The site is the effort of Danne Polk of the philosophy department of Villanova University, who forthrightly confesses to visitors that the PRB is "an emerging site with unending work to be done" and asks them to make suggestions and submit the URLs of useful sites not yet represented in the meta-index. Besides its significant content, Polk deserves credit for one of the site's other strengths: its clean and functional interface, which offers a welcome respite from the ugly, ill-conceived, and badly implemented site designs one sometimes encounters on the philosophy Web-trail (why some philosophy sites are so badly designed is one for, well, the philosophers . . .).

Along with its substantial site content, the PRB offers useful extras which will be of interest to many. Visitors are invited to subscribe to a free Philosophy Research Base Newsletter, which provides timely news and notifications of updates. In addition, the site sponsors three awards which suggest a commitment to improving the practice and teaching of philosophy online:

• A ne plus ultra award, which is "bestowed upon sites that are believed to be superlative gateway sites for those wishing to find high quality, in-depth information on a particular philosopher or philosophical topic" or which "provide a particular, unique service to philosophers."

• An Original Contribution Award bestowed upon "articles, books, dissertations, etc. within sites owned by the authors themselves that contribute something interesting and innovative to the Philosophy Research Base."

The copyright of the article Philosophy Research Base: An Essential Resource in Philosophy is owned by . Permission to republish Philosophy Research Base: An Essential Resource in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.