Philosophy Course Materials

The Course Materials section provides links to various resources of particular interest to undergraduate students or faculty researching classroom tools. You can search for course materials by topic or philosopher area. You can limit your search to see only resources that provide robust lecture notes and outlines, or you can include all links (to see additional course syllabi, etc.). Further down on this page you will find links to General Philosophy Aides, Dictionaries/Encyclopedias/Glossaries, Online Classes in Philosophy and other resources. To submit your philosophy course materials/syllabus for inclusion in this section, please use the appropriate Web form.

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Lecture Materials by Topic Area:

Lecture Materials by Philosopher Area:

General Philosophy Aides for Students

• Sophia Project - from Molloy College, includes a collection of resources such as "What is Philosophy Anyway?", "Logic in a Nutshell", and many, many others.
• Lexicon of Foreign Words in English Philosophy Texts, a lengthy and helpful listing of foreign language words used in philosophy (from Josh Wood)
• Philosophy Timeline (Garth Kemerling)
• Timeline of Western Philosophy (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
• How to get Better Grades on your Philosophy Papers (Martin Young) - a detailed guide!
• Tips on Writing a Philosophy Paper - (Douglas Portmore) - a detailed guide!
• Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper (James Pryor)
• How To Read a Philosophy Paper (James Pryor)
• Philosophical Terms and Methods (James Pryor)
• Writing Philosophy Papers: A Student Guide (Oregon State University)
• Philosophy Pays Off: The Practical Value of the Philosophy Degree (Eric Steinhart)
• Paper writing strategies for introductory philosophy courses (Joe Cruz)
• Writing Papers for Introductory Moral Philosophy Courses (Joe Cruz)
• How to Write a Philosophy Paper (Istvan Berkeley)
• A Brief Guide for Writing Philosophy Papers - (Richard Field)
• Guide for Writing Papers in Philosophy (Ellen Watson) A brief guide.
• Guide to the Study of Philosophy (Garth Kemerling) A comprehensive guide for the new student of philosophy
• Philosophical Debates - a collection of nice introductory bibliographies on some of the major philosophical questions throughout history
• So You Want To Pass Your First Philosophy Course? (A.D.Irvine) - a nice advice sheet, with a sense of humor too!
• Writing in Philosophy - Univ. of Toronto, has an advice section and a nice annotated bibliography section
• The APA's "The Philosophy Major"
• A Student's Guide to the Study of History
• Why Study Philosophy

Philosophy Classes Online

• InterQuest: Introducing Philosophy (Jon Dorbolo) Introductory Philosophy Course, Oregon State University. This site has many resources associated with it.
• Philosophy 302 (Bill Uzgalis) History of Modern Philosophy, Oregon State University.
• World Lecture Hall: Philosophy - Collection of courses that utilize the web to deliver some portion of class materials
• A Virtual Classroom: The Electronic Agora - (Ron Barnette), a listserv based class
• Critical Thinking - at Georgia State University, complete with a demonstration of the technology for the public
• Critical Thinking - at San Francisco State University
• Business Ethics - (Ron Yezzi, Minnesota State University, Mankato)
• History of Ideas Online (Mississipi State University)
• Online Courses from Julie Van Camp - California State University, Longbeach

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias and Glossaries

• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Philosophy Dictionary by Garth Kemerling
• Dictionary of Philosophy by Dagobert Runes
• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science
• The Ism Book: A Hypertext Dictionary of Philosophy
• Philosophy Dictionary a one-page resource from McGraw Hill
• The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)
• Dictionary of the Philosophy of Mind
• Free On-Line Dictionary Of Philosophy, edited by SWIF
• Lexicon of Foreign Words in English Philosophy Texts, a lengthy and helpful listing of foreign language words used in philosophy (from Josh Wood)
• Some Definitions of Key Ethics Concepts
• Glossary of Ethical Terms
• Glossary of Ethical Theory
• Glossary of Philosophical Terms
• Philosophical Terms and Definitions
• Mostly Modern Philosophical Dictionary
• Glossary of Philosophy
• Towards a Philosophical Lexicon
• Glossary of Philosophical Terms and Names
• Glossary of Christian Terms
• Glossary of Theological Terms
• Glossary of Terms Related to Judaism
• Glossary of Philosophical Terms - from the Radical Academy
• Timeline of Philosophy - from the Radical Academy
• Development of Philosophic Thought - a flow chart of the development of modern relativism and subjectivism, as opposed to classical realism and objectivism.

Additional Classroom Resources

• CliffsNotes - Not only summaries of classic texts in literature and philosophy, this site also provides a great deal of other resources, including general writing aids and more -- all available for free online!
• NovelGuides - An alternative to CliffNotes
• ClassicNotes - An alternative to CliffNotes
• Philosophy Comix - Larry Hauser's excellent collection of philosophy-related cartoons, use them in your lectures and handouts!
• Paradigm: Online Writing Assistant tool
• Jim O'Donnell's "New Tools for Teaching" - a guide to the developing role of the internet for teaching
• The Elements of Style - online text of the standard work by William Strunk
• UMI Dissertation Abstracts Services
• GRIP Scholarship Listings - a large index of scholarships, fellowships and financial aid resources