Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Encyclopedia
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) is a free online encyclopedia on philosophical
topics and philosophers founded by James Fieser in 1995. The current general editors are James Fieser (Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Martin) and Bradley Dowden (Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Sacramento). The staff also includes numerous area editors as well as volunteers.
The entire website was redesigned in the summer of 2009, moving from static HTML pages to the open-source publishing platform WordPress
.
: see peer review
), but sometimes uses material from public domain resources to create temporary stop-gap articles until permanent articles are completed.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
topics and philosophers founded by James Fieser in 1995. The current general editors are James Fieser (Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Martin) and Bradley Dowden (Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Sacramento). The staff also includes numerous area editors as well as volunteers.
About the IEP
The IEP is a non-profit organization that receives no funding. The mission statement of the IEP is as follows:The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy was founded in 1995 for the purpose of providing detailed, scholarly information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy. The IEP is free of charge and available to all internet users world wide. The present staff of 25 editors and approximately 200 authors hold doctorate degrees and are professors at colleges and universities around the world, most notably from the United States, Great Britain, and Australia. The submission and review process of articles is the same as that with printed philosophy journals, books and reference works. The authors are specialists in the areas in which they write, and are frequently leading authorities.
The entire website was redesigned in the summer of 2009, moving from static HTML pages to the open-source publishing platform WordPress
WordPress
WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
.
Scholarly standards
According to the IEP, the quality of its articles is "at the same level as that of the best multi-volume encyclopedias of philosophy which appear in print." This is achieved primarily by recruiting well-qualified contributors and using a peer review process that is "rigorous and meets high academic standards". The encyclopedia uses a traditional, closed procedure for commissioning and refereeing its permanent articles (comparable to that of the Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a freely-accessible online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from over 65 academic institutions worldwide...
: see peer review
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
), but sometimes uses material from public domain resources to create temporary stop-gap articles until permanent articles are completed.