LibGuides: Philosophy: Articles (Databases)

Getting Started

Journal articles are important sources for your research, as they focus on specific topics and contain the most up-to-date research in the field.

Databases in Philosophy enable you to search for articles within the field. Start your research with a Philosophy database recommended on this guide.

Philosophy Databases

Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new window
Includes references and abstracts from books and journals of philosophy dating back to 1902 (publish date). You can access many full-text articles.

Philosopher's Index - Tutorial A general tutorial to the Philosopher's Index provided by EBSCO.

PhilPapers This link opens in a new window
PhilPapers is a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers. Content is monitored and maintained by academics. PhilPapers also hosts PhilArchives, the largest open-access archive in philosophy.

PhilPapers - Search Help Guide A guide provided by PhilPapers to help you search more effectively.

Also Useful

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select ebooks and other materials.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles on art, film, music, world literature, philosophy, religion, and more.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and eBooks in the humanities and social sciences.
Religion and Philosophy, by OneFile This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles about the impact religion has had on culture throughout history, including literature, arts, and language.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
If you use the Google Scholar link here or on the library home page, your search will be linked to collections "available @ Cal State LA". When you are off-campus, you will need to add Cal State LA to your library links (settings menu of Google Scholar).
*Google Scholar searches all scholarly material on the web by popularity, including academic assigments and other materials not peer reviewed. There is no peer-review filter, so you will need to vet the results.

Search Tips!

5 Things to Do with a Database:

Search a Field by Subject, Author, etc.
Refine results by peer-reviewed, subject, author, date, language, etc.
Mark records you want to save.
Access or request full-texts.
Email or export citations.

Boolean Operators:

OR - gets you more results (being OR existential)
AND - narrows results (being AND time)
NOT - excludes results (being NOT heidegger)

Order Article through iLLiad

How to Order Items for Free

If Cal State LA does not have an article or book chapter, or if you are unable to access the physical copy, you can request an electronic copy through iLLiad. iLLiad is part of our Interlibrary Loan service.

Interlibrary Loan =

CSU Collections (aka CSU+): Delivers physical books and dvds from other CSUs for free.
iLLiad: Request electronic versions of articles and book chapters for free! (never pay for an article). If CSU+ does not have a book you need, you can also use iLLiad to request a book delivery from a non-CSU University.

The iLLiad sign-on screen is pictured below. First-time users will need to register.

Once you are signed in, you may see an auto-populated form ready to submit (if you came to iLLiad from a "request this article" link). Otherwise, you need to fill out a form to submit a "New Request" (see image below).

You may request any number of articles, and up to 2 book chapters per book (due to copyright). If you would like two book chapters from the same book scanned and emailed to you, complete one form per book chapter.

Philosophy