# Philosophy on the internet/books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420 "2002-10-29T17:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420/1 "2002-10-29T17:55:30Z")
I’m looking for a good source to get summaries of the great (and lesser known too) philosophers’ philosophies. Summations of their ideas. Anyone have any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420/2 "2002-10-29T19:09:11Z")
_The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Philosophy_. They really do have a book for everything in that series. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420/3 "2002-10-29T20:05:30Z")
Thanks, Ultra, I always forget about the Dummies/Idiots guides…I hope that that’s not telling. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420/4 "2002-10-29T21:38:22Z")
The [Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521637228/) is absolutely fantastic, though weighty. Brilliantly cross-referenced. [Fifty Major Philosophers](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0415031354/) is also a very engaging read. From what I know of philosophy it is quite unbiased. This was the first philosophy book I ever purchased. Very tightly written but doesn’t chince you on the details. As the title _doesn’t_ suggest, though, it is only western philosophy. Bertrand Russell’s [History of Western Philosophy](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671201581/) is also quite good, but he is not ashamed to put his own two cents in, and it is also told from the point of discussing philosophy historically, not _qua_ philosophy. Still, a good read and a great summary of major ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420/5 "2002-10-30T05:10:42Z")
I really liked [Sophie’s World](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425152251/ref=pd_sim_books_5/103-7357516-0003863?v=glance), which is a book on the history of philosophy thinly disguised as a fiction novel. Quite interesting work. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420/6 "2002-10-30T07:37:05Z")
I always liked the [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy](http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/). I came across an article from their site a few years back in school, and I’ve been using it since. They’ve got articles arranged chronologically, indexed by topic, and alphabetically by subject (subject being topics and persons). I’ve always found their articles to be fascinating. It can be a little inconsistent in coverage (for example, the article on [Michael Dummett](http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/d/dummett.htm), who I don’t know, is pages and pages, while the one on [Denis Diderot](http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/d/diderot.htm), who I love, is a scanty three paragraphs. But that’s neither here nor there), but in the main is a wonderful resource. It’s online, as opposed to the other suggestions which have all been books. I hope that’s not cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420/7 "2002-10-30T13:29:05Z")
[This site](http://www.philosophers.co.uk/) has some interesting links, games and interactive conundrums. Try the “Battleground God” or the Philosophy Quiz. But I would definitely recommend (secondly) _Sophies World_ for a good overview of the history of thought. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philosophy-on-the-internet-books/134420/8 "2002-10-30T14:38:14Z")
I’ll second the IEP for **White Lighting**. [http://plato.stanford.edu/](http://plato.stanford.edu/) is quite a good website, as well.