"The relationship between facts and values is an essential problem in philosophy, political science and sociology. Usually it is held that there is a wide gap between what is and what ought to be, the nature of which, however, is far from clear."   From abstract:  Valer Ambrus, "Max Webers Wertfreiheitspostulat und die naturalistische Begrundung von Normen",  Journal for General Philosophy of Science. (2001; 32(2): 209-236).

Princeton offers access to a wide range of important resources in Philosophy. These can inform work in Sociology in several ways. Examination of the philosophical basis for various aspects of sociology can suggest further directions or different patterns for research and exploration. Philosophy also provides a historical account of how people in groups, groups in relation to others, and individual identity in sociological terms have changes in definition and context over many years. Ethics adds an interesting layer of expected or prohibited behaviors which are taken or or shunned according to the identity of individuals or of groups.

Philosopher's Index, subbscription database.

The Philosopher's Index, from 1940 to the present, is a central resource in the field, and provides indexing and abstracts from books and journals of philosophy and related fields. It covers the areas of ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy, political philosophy, epistemology, and metaphysic logic as well as material on the philosophy of law, religion, science, history, education, and language.

Encyclopedia of Philosophy, subscription database.

Articles in this work are extensive and authorative.  They provide a solid framework for the considerable body of work in sociology which deals with overarching concepts, and also provide biographies of philosophers who have created the field of sociology. .

Page last updated 14 March 2012  in the Princeton University Library