Key concept
Primary sources in philosophy are most frequently the works of the philosopher him/herself, though letters, lectures, and contemporary criticism may also be useful primary materials depending on your exact interest.
Primary Sources Online
There is an increasing amount of digitized primary source material available in library databases and on the web from libraries, museums, educational institutions, and more. Explore these resources to find texts, images, and much more on this topic.
- Early American Imprints (1639-1819)An online collection reproducing all known books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in America from 1639 to 1819.
- Early English Books Online (c. 1475-1700)All known books published in England from the beginning of printing to 1700.
- HathiTrust Digital LibraryHathiTrust is a large-scale collaborative repository with over 10 million volumes including content digitized via the Google Books project, Internet Archive, and by local libraries. Public domain content is full-text; non-public domain content (post-1923) is for full-text searching only. Since Tufts is a member, those with a Tufts login can download the pdf of pre-1923 materials and can build a personal collection. To login select “Collections,” then select “login” from the upper right; choose Tufts University and login using your Tufts username and password.
- Internet ArchiveInternet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, and much more.
- Archive FinderAn index to archival collections, which often contain the letters, diaries, and other private documents of scholars and philosophers.
- ArchiveGridArchiveGrid includes over 5 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more.
Primary Sources in Print
Primary sources--such as original documents, letters, diaries, interviews, works of art, and oral histories, can often be found collected in print volumes. Tisch Library has a wide array of print primary sources in its collection. Below is a sample of some of the resources that you can find but remember, this is only a sample, so use JumboSearch to find more or Ask a Librarian for help!
The Problem of the Color Line at the Turn of the Twentieth Century by Call Number: eBookThis volume assembles essential essays--some published only posthumously, others obscure, another only recently translated--by W. E. B. Du Bois from 1894 to early 1906. They show the first formulations of some of his most famous ideas, namely, "the veil," "double-consciousness," and the "problem of the color line."
The Correspondence of Hannah Arendt and Gershom ScholemCall Number: Tisch Book Stacks JC263.A69 A7313 2017Few people thought as deeply or incisively about Germany, Jewish identity, and the Holocaust as Hannah Arendt and Gershom Scholem. And, as this landmark volume reveals, much of that thinking was developed in dialogue, through more than two decades of correspondence.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects by Call Number: EbookWritten by Mary Wollstonecraft, this book is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to those educational and political theorists of the 18th century who did not believe women should have an education. Also available in print: Tisch Book Stacks HQ1596 .W6 1967
Uncut Funk by Call Number: Tisch Book Stacks DT16.5 .H66 2018In an awesome meeting of minds, cultural theorists Stuart Hall and bell hooks met for a series of wide-ranging conversations on what Hall sums up as "life, love, death, sex." From the trivial to the profound, across boundaries of age, sexualities and genders, hooks and Hall dissect topics and themes of continual contemporary relevance, including feminism, home and homecoming, class, black masculinity, family, politics, relationships, and teaching.
Thus Spoke LaoziCall Number: Tisch Book Stacks BL1900.L26 E5 2016Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) by Chinese philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu) is one of the most popular Chinese texts, with more than 100 translations available. The strength of Wu's version comes from his superior bilingual talents and unique cross-cultural perspective, drawing widely from both Chinese and Western sources. Also available as an Ebook.
On Liberty and the Subjection of Women by Call Number: EbookA prodigiously brilliant thinker who sharply challenged the beliefs of his age, the political and social radical John Stuart Mill was the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century. Also available in print: Tisch Book Stacks JC585 .M7419 2006
Kant: the Metaphysics of MoralsCall Number: Tisch Book Stacks B2785.E5 G7413 2017The Metaphysics of Morals is Kant's final major work in moral philosophy. In it, he presents the basic concepts and principles of right and virtue and the system of duties of human beings as such.
Kierkegaard's Journals and Notebooks - Journals NB15-NB20Call Number: EbookFor over a century, the Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55) has been at the center of a number of important discussions, concerning not only philosophy and theology, but also, more recently, fields such as social thought, psychology, and contemporary aesthetics, especially literary theory.The War Diaries of Jean-Paul Sartre
Call Number: Tisch Book Stacks PQ2637.A82 Z46313 1984Presents a series of notes on philosophy, literature, politics, history and autobiography that anticipate the themes of Sartre's later masterpieces.
