Product Description

Oxford University Press presents a major new edition of the definitive philosophical reference work for readers at all levels. For ten years the original volume has served as a stimulating introduction for general readers and as an indispensable guide for students; its breadth and depth of coverage have ensured that it is also read with pleasure and interest by those working at a higher level in philosophy and related disciplines. A distinguished international assembly of 249 philosophers contributed almost 2,000 entries, and many of these have now been considerably revised and updated; to these are added over 300 brand-new pieces on a fascinating range of current topics. This new edition offers enlightening and enjoyable discussions of all aspects of philosophy, and of the lives and work of the great philosophers from antiquity to the present day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9618 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1076 pages

Economist, 21 May, 2005
the 'Oxford Companion' is rewarding to browse through...probably the best introductory guide.

Review
Magisterial and unrivalled... the new edition remains the definitive reference guide to the world of philosophy. (Library Journal )

A reference work of both great value and pleasurable reading. (Booklist )

Philosophy students in search of a crisp (or comparatively crisp) summary are certainly spoilt for choice. Lively. (Nicholas Bagnall, Sunday Times )

that rarest of things: a philosophical work that is genuinely entertaining ... by far the best - and best value - philosophical reference book on the market.' (Observer )

Nicholas Bagnall, Sunday Times
"Philosophy students in search of a crisp (or comparatively crisp) summary are certainly spoilt for choice. Lively."

Customer Reviews

Articulate and deeply informative
I am studying philosophy at University and cannot recommend this book more highly. It is an extraordinarily erudite and lucid exploration of ideas. One of the great successes of the book I believe is that it provides first a brief historic overview and outline of the intellectual contribution of the thinker/or school of thought and then discusses some of the more detailed ideas in relative depth and relates and compares them to both contemporary opinions and more recent developments in analytic philosophy (at least this is what happens in the more extensive entries). Therefore it is equally useful as both a quick reference guide and as a tool for finding out about more specific and detailed dare I say technical components of ideas. One of the great highpoints of the book is the treatment of the philosophy of science; the topic is very clearly explained without the excessive and misleading jargon that dominantes so many books that attempt to explore this subject. Oxford University have, however, thankfully not just restricted themselves to Plato, Kant, Russel and Wittgenstein... they also have covered a huge selection of thinkers from almost every conceivable culture. A number of extracts are dedicated to the exploration of even obscure African and Asian thinkers. I was recently delighted to find that the 19th century philosopher and poet Solovyov is included, having encountered one of his poems by chance I was pleasantly surprised that my faithful Oxford companion could provide a point of reference yet again! At the back of the edition there is also a series of maps of philosophy that explore how different facets of the subject inter-relate to one another. These maps are very useful for people new to the subject. I would recommend this over the Cambridge Dictionnary to philosophy which I also own, although find much less extensive and informative. In conclusion: A great buy!

An indispensible refence aid to Philosophy!
I am a second year university student studying Philosophy and after an exhaustive search for an extended general reference aid to the subject, I believe that the Oxford Companion to Philoshophy is head and shoulders above similar texts on the market (e.g. Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, The Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philoshophy). It is not only informative, but in an easy to understand and accessable format, which lends itself equally well to the beginner as to the more advanced philosophy student. In my opinion this constitutes an indispensible reference to anyone interested in the subject of philosophy.

A good resource for both layperson & academic
Speaking as a layperson I found this book gave an extremely wide coverage of recent, & past, philosophy. The varied entries are easy enough for an intelligent layperson to understand, yet they had the depth that would be useful for undergrad philosophy students.

As well as covering the greats, and different branches of philosophy, there was good coverage of contemporary philosophers - something lacking other encyclopaedias/Dictionaries. Also, an eye-opener, was the coverage of some [possibly] curious problems [e.g. death] which, again, are not found in many other works of reference.

In contrast to another recent popular tome [the Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy] this book is definitely NOT dry and boring. This is important, as it combats the image of the philosopher as a dull academic with nothing of interest to say about life.