From Library Journal
This work consists of more than 2000 abbreviated entries culled from the ten-volume Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (LJ 9/15/98). It has the same number of entries as the ten-volume set, whose lengthy essays each begin with a brief description of the subject; it is these descriptions that make up the content of the Concise Encyclopedia. The layout generally follows other one-volume Routledge works, e.g., the Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Philosophers (LJ 9/1/96). Each entry is signed and includes one or two suggestions for further reading on the topic. An alphabetical list of entries and their contributors appears at the beginning of the book, and there is a comprehensive subject index. Reflecting the entire set, the choice of entries has been carefully made, and topics are not limited either to history or to Western philosophy. Libraries owning the set probably don't need this, though it would not be costly to add for ready-reference purposes. It should, however, find a welcome spot on the reference shelves of libraries not owning the set, given the exceptionally reasonable price and the care that has gone into the production.DTerry Skeats, Bishop Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Based on the widely acclaimed 10-volume
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1998), this abridgement includes entries on each of the more than 2,000 topics covered in the parent set. The vast majority of entries in the larger set begin with a short introduction to the topic designed to be accessible to the educated layperson, followed by a more in-depth treatment and often extensive lists of cross-references and annotated sources for further reading.
Concise Routledge retains unaltered each of the short introductions and, in the case of entries for the branches of philosophy (e.g.,
Ethics ,
Metaphysic s,
Political philos ophy) and selected religious philosophies (e.g.,
Islamic philosophy ,
Jewish philosophy), includes the entire several-page article. But a few examples will indicate how much detail has been lost from the parent edition: overviews of Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Korean Buddhism have shrunk from thirty-seven to three pages; John Stuart Mill's entry has shrunk from fifteen to just under two pages; and
Political philosophy, history of has shrunk from fourteen to one and one-half pages. In most cases, the number of cross-references and further reading citations (still helpfully annotated) has been significantly reduced. Still, these shorter treatments reflect the concentrated and carefully worded opinions of more than 1,200 philosophers and other scholars. The volume compares favorably to two works of similar length and scope:
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (1995) and
The Cambridge Dic tionary of Philosophy (1999). Using entries on Aristotle, Descartes, and Wittgenstein as a basis for comparison, biographical entries in
Con cise Routledge are much shorter than those in the Oxford and Cambridge titles. There are no sources for further reading in
Cambridge , while those in
Oxford are not annotated.
Oxford has useful charts and tables not found in the other two. The index of
Cambridge is limited to selected personal names not occurring as headwords.
Concise Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is recommended even for high-school, public, and academic libraries already owning the Oxford and Cambridge titles; its annotated reading lists alone are worth the price. It is especially recommended for smaller libraries unable to afford the 10-volume parent set. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
