Collection Development Policy: Philosophy
  • Subject Librarian(s):
    William Monroe

  • Departmental Library Representative (DLR):
    Justin Broackes

  • Description of the Academic Program | Home Page
    The Department of Philosophy studies and teaches a broad range of core subjects in the discipline, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, with principal interests being epistemology, metaphysics, logic and philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and psychology, moral and political philosophy, the history of ancient Greek and Roman, and of early modern philosophy. There are also departmental interests in 19th and 20th century continental philosophy, philosophy of science, aesthetics and connections between philosophy and literature. The library collections need also to support the work of other departments with philosophical interests, e.g. Religious Studies, Modern Culture and Media, Classics, and Cognitive Science. Conversely, members of the department and students depend also on holdings collected under other headings in the library, such as French and German literature, Classics, and Psychology.



  • Overview of the Collection
    The Library has long maintained strong collections in philosophy, and especially in the areas of interests to the faculty in the Department. We tend to have the major editions and secondary works on the major historical figures, both in English and the original languages. In the last decades of the 20th century, coverage was less even, with more emphasis placed on ethics. There are some gaps in the collection as some important editions and secondary works have been missed. We will be working to fill these gaps over the coming years. Still, we maintain subscriptions to the major journals in the field, in English as well as in French and German. The collections are adequate for support of current undergraduate and graduate studies, and for most research. Because of the age of our library, we hold a considerable number of early printed books relevant to ancient and early modern philosophy.



  • General Collecting Guidelines
    We try to maintain holdings at a research level for epistemology, metaphysics, logic and philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and psychology, moral and political philosophy, history of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, and history of early modern philosophy. This means having strong holding of books from the major American and British scholarly publishers, as well as major publications in French and German. We collect at the study level for 19th and 20th century continental philosophy, philosophy of science, aesthetics, and medieval philosophy. The classic works of important authors should be available in both original languages and English translation.

  • Detailed Subject Breakdown

  • Specific Collecting Guidelines
    • Language: Western European languages, especially French and German, and editions and commentaries on ancient and early modern philosophers.
    • Chronological Span: Ancient Greece and Rome to present.
    • Types of Material Included: Books, journals, electronic formats. Excluded: Textbooks, ephemera.


  • Areas of Distinction
    We probably are strongest in ethics, and in classic British and American analytical philosophy.

  • Special Collections
    Brown’s Special Collections (located in the John Hay Library), have not emphasized philosophy as a subject, but our strong holdings in early printed books contain many items of interest in ancient and early modern philosophy. In addition, some of our named collections may be of interest, especially the Grotius and the Machiavelli Collections.

  • Related Collections
    Teaching and research in philosophy are supported mainly by the collections classed in B (general), BC (logic), BD (metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind ), BH (aesthetics), and BJ (ethics) of the Library of Congress Classification, although they are also served by collections in religion, psychology (BF), history, political science (especially JA), and languages and literatures. It is important to note that these other fields are also served by the collections shelved in B classes. The Library’s Special Collections hold many rare books of possible interest for the study of philosophy including especially early printed books, as well as some of the specialized named subject collections (see: Collections A to Z )