Reviews

"In the 1960s, philosophy was fairly sure of its boundaries; in the 1990s it does not have the same confidence," notes General Editor Craig (modern philosophy, Cambridge) in his introduction to this masterly new encyclopedia. This is definitely a work for the 1990s. Of course it has coverage of the standard topics, often by the big names‘e.g., Richard Rorty on "Pragmatism" and Roderick Chisholm on "Commonsensism"‘not to mention coverage of the really big names themselves, from Plato (and Platonism, Early and Middle, Medieval, and Renaissance) to Kant (and Kantian Ethics) to Putnam, Quine, and Rawls. But, fittingly for our times, this encyclopedia ranges broadly, taking in the philosophies of Asia and Africa (there is an interesting entry, for instance, on African Aesthetics), Russia and Latin America, and Islam and Judaism and ranging from "Anti-Semitism" to "Feminist Jurisprudence" (feminist issues receive over 50 pages) to "Poetry" to "Poststructuralism" and "Postcolonialism" to "Resurrection" to "Psychology, Theories of." Altogether there are 2,056 articles by 1300 authors. Entries usually run several pages and are signed, though full background information is given on the editorial board only. Topping off the work is an index containing 78,000 entries. The obvious comparison here is to Macmillan's equally masterly The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which, with a 1967 copyright, was sorely in need of an update. The new work does the job, both in its more adventuresome coverage and in its more accessible language, which will make it easily approachable by students and lay readers today. Think twice before tossing your Macmillan‘it's still a gem‘but definitely consider adding this new set to your collection, particularly where there is a need for a broad-ranging resource on cultural history and issues. You may also wish to consider the full-text CD-ROM (ISBN 0-415-16916-X. $2,995; until October 31, $2,595) or a text/CD-ROM combination (ISBN 0-415-16917-8. $3,495; until October 31, $2,995). Highly recommended for academic libraries and for public libraries where the Macmillan work or other references on cultural history are used heavily.‘Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"