Introduction
This is a guide to selected sources of information related to the PH467 Preceptorial: Sartre. Covered in this guide are resources pertaining to the philosophy of Sartre as well as other philosophers/thinkers that influenced his philosophy. The guide is only meant to be a starting point for your research. For further research assistance, please contact the Philosophy Liaison Librarian.
Research Basics
The reference librarians have created a group of Web pages named Research Help to help teach you the basics of library research and to introduce you to Geisel Library. On the Research Help pages, you will find a guide on Research Basics and a helpful guide on evaluating Web resources titled, our guide on Evaluating Websites. Please take advantage of these resources.
Reference Resources
Search these resources for information on Jean Paul Sartre as well as information on concepts such as freedom, consciousness, existentialism, and nihilism or fellow existentialists like Albert Camus, Edmund Husserl, and Martin Heidegger, among others.
Electronic Reference Materials
Use the following electronic reference materials instead of wikipedia; These resources are full of quality information and are as easy to use as wikipedia. Make sure to try all three e-resources, this will give you a variety of perspectives on Sartre's Philosophy.
The following resources are restricted to the Saint Anselm College community.
Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL)
Oxford Reference Online (ORO)
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Links to selected entries appear below:
- Entry on Jean Paul Sartre
- Entry on Existentialist Ethics
- Entry on Nihilism
Print Reference Materials
The following reference books are shelved on the first floor of the library in the reference area.
Dictionary of Existentialism
Call Number: Ref B819 .D455
Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Call Number: Ref B41 .E5
Handbook of World Philosophy
Call Number: Ref B804 .A1 H36
Search Tips
To search the catalogs and databases highlighted in this guide you will need to use Boolean operators (ANDs and ORs), truncation, and quotation marks to pull up books and articles on your topic. Here is a brief overview of how to use Boolean operators and truncation:
- AND: use AND to link together search topics
Merleau-Ponty AND Sartre AND freedom - OR: use OR to link together synonyms or like concepts
(identity OR self) AND Sartre - *: use truncation to pull up the root of a word with variant endings
existential* will pull up items with the words existential, existentialism,
existentialist, etc.
Finding Books/Secondary Sources
Geisel Library Catalog
The first step when looking for books is to search the Geisel Library Catalog. Remember that you can search by keyword or by subject heading.
The list of subject heading and keyword searches listed below are only examples; Geisel Library has a wealth of information related to existentialism and the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre, make sure to construct your own subject heading and keyword searches to access information on your topic.
Subject Heading Searches
Books by Jean-Paul Sartre
Books about Jean-Paul Sartre
Existentialism
French Philosophy
Keyword Searches
Camus and Sartre
Phenomenology and Existentialism
Freedom and Philosophy
(Being or Self) and Philosophy
WorldCat
If you searched the Geisel Library Catalog but could not locate a book on your topic try searching WorldCat, a database that allows you to search the collections of libraries throughout the United States. If you find a book that you want you can request it through interlibrary loan (ILL) by clicking on the ILL icon in the book's catalog record. Please be aware that items requested through WorldCat can take a week to two weeks to be delivered, it is important therefore to request books through WorldCat early in the research process.
Finding Journal Articles
The following databases will help you locate scholarly research in the field of philosophy. When examining your search results you may come across the WebBridge icon. To learn how to use WebBridge, please watch our video tutorial (3.5 mins; includes audio).
Core Philosophy Databases
Philosopher's Index
Academic Search Premier
JSTOR
Project MUSE
Additional Databases
SocINDEX
Use SocINDEX to find articles that examine the influence that Sartre and other existentialists have on society.
Selected Internet Resources
Searching the Internet can yield a vast amount of information, but in terms of quality and reliability, your results may be uneven at best. The ease and speed with which individuals can publish information on the web, regardless of accuracy or quality makes it imperative that when doing research on the web you know how to evaluate the information you find. To learn more, see our guide on Evaluating Websites.
If when searching the Internet, you locate references to books or articles that you would like to view please check with a reference librarian to see if the items can be located in Geisel Library's print or electronic collection or through Interlibrary Loan.
Philosophy Search Engines
Use the following customized search engines to search only those websites that contain scholarly research in the field of philosophy.
Intute: Arts and Humanities
University of Oxford and Manchester Metropolitan University
Noesis
University of Evansville
psearch
University of Hong Kong
Selected Websites
Continental Philosophy
The Existential Primer
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Use the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy to access peer-reviewed essays on philosophers and philosophical topics. Below are links to sample entries:
- Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism
- Jean-Paul Sartre: Political Philosophy
- Phenomenology and Time-Consciousness
- Nihilism
John-Paul Sartre Archive
Marxists Internet Archive
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Search the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by keyword or by browsing their table of contents. Make sure to take advantage of the links to related entries and the bibliographic references at the end of entries. Below are links to sample entries:
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Existentialism
- Phenomenology
- Phenomenological Approaches to Self-Consciousness
- Consciousness and Intentionality
- Self-Knowledge
Multi-Media
Human All Too Human: Sartre the Road to Freedom
BBC Documentary (48 minutes)
Available on Google Video
Philosophy Talk: Existentialism
Philosophy Talk Radio Show (54 minutes, requires RealPlayer)
Stanford University
Click "Listen Online" to listen to streaming audio
Citing Sources
Geisel Library has both print and electronic resources on how to properly cite research materials. Always confirm the style required by your instructor.
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