Why Philosophy Needs a Dynamic Encyclopedia of Philosophy

[This piece was authored by John Perry and Edward N. Zaltain November 1997.]

Sections

• Introduction
• Basic Description
• Innovative Features
• Future Significance
• Funding the Encyclopedia

Introduction

At the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI), wehave developed a solution to the problem of updating encyclopedias,namely, a ‘dynamic’ encyclopedia that is published on theInternet. Unlike static encyclopedias (i.e., encyclopedias that willbecome fixed in print or on CD-ROM), a dynamic encyclopedia allowsentries to be updated, thereby becomingresponsive to newresearch and advances in the field. A dynamic encyclopedia gives theauthors direct electronic access to their entries and the means toupdate them whenever it is needed, and it does this withoutcompromising the quality of the entries. Whereas static encyclopediasmust publish supplements or an entire new edition to become current, adynamic encyclopedia simplyevolves and quickly adapts toreflect advances in research. The process of updating an encyclopedianever ceases, and the very concept of a dynamic encyclopedia takesaccount of this fact.

TheStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is our workingprototype of a dynamic encyclopedia. This prototype implements thetechnical specifications developed in the paper ‘A Solution to theProblem of Updating Encyclopedias’, which was coauthored by EricHammer and Edward N. Zalta (Computers and the Humanities,Volume 31/1, 1997, pp. 47-60).

We are now working towards the goal of turning this working prototypeinto amature dynamic encyclopedia that will be useful bothto professional scholars and the general public. It will not be a‘finished’ product because dynamic encyclopedias are neverfinished. But within a few years, we will have refined the operationof this new and innovative kind of dynamic reference work so that itwill continue to prove its worth far into the future. We believe thatthe principles upon which our encyclopedia is based will contribute toa reconceptualization the nature of reference works for the age of theInternet.

Basic Description

To implement our dynamic encyclopedia, we connected a multi-user Unixworkstation (plato.stanford.edu) to the Internet and installed a WorldWide Web server. We then created a cover page, a table of contents,an editorial page, and a directory entitledentries accessibleto the web server. We recruited (and are still recruiting) EditorialBoard members for the job of identifying topics, soliciting authors,and reviewing the the entries and updates when they are received.These Board members have begun recruiting authors who have a stronginterest in and commitment to the topics on which they write and whowill be motivated to keep their entries abreast of the latest advancesin research.

However, the innovative technical feature of our encyclopedia isthat authors are given a "file-upload" account on plato.stanford.edu,i.e., the computer that runs the encyclopedia's World Wide Web server.Once an Editorial Board member decides on a topic and finds orapproves an author to write it, he or she then forwards theinformation (via email) to the Editor of the encyclopedia, who thencreates a file-upload account for the author on plato.stanford.edu andsends the author detailed information on how to prepare the entry andupload the entry (or update) when it is ready. When an author uploadsan entry or an update (using a web browser) to his or her privatedirectory on plato.stanford.edu, only the editorial staff can view it(they have password protected access). The Editorial Board memberresponsible for that entry is automatically notified that the entryhas been put online or changed. The Board member then inspects thenew material, and if he/she approves it, the new material is thenpublished in public webspace; otherwise, the author is sentsuggestions for improvements (and in some cases, the entries must berejected and a new author must be commissioned).

Innovative Features

The most obvious innovative feature of an encyclopedia fitting thisdescription is that it will not go out of date. When new ideas arepublished in books and journals of philosophy, the authors of ourencyclopedia can summarize the ideas and update their entries. Sincethe encyclopedia will be accessible to web-browsers such as Netscapeor Internet Explorer, a wide audience (academics, students, and thegeneral public) may become informed of the latest advances in thoughtmore quickly. We believe that this will speed up the dissemination ofnew philosophical ideas to a wide audience.

The other innovative features of a dynamic encyclopedia that has beenorganized on the above plan are:

1. The entries in a dynamic encyclopedia can beimprovedandrefined over the course of time. As Board members andcolleagues read the entry and give the author feedback, the author canenhance the article to make it more readable, make it more logical inform, repair typographical errors, etc.
2. The encyclopedia eliminates the often large span of time thatappears between productions of large-scale ‘static’encyclopedias. The MacmillanEncyclopedia of Philosophy(edited by Paul Edwards) was published in 1967. The RoutledgeEncyclopedia of Philosophy (edited by Edward Craig) will comeout in 1998. During the 30 year gap, no up-to-date full-scaleencyclopedia has been available. In 2003, when the RoutledgeEncyclopedia starts to show a few signs of going out of date, ourswill still be current. In 2008, the differences will be even morestriking.
3. The encyclopedia eliminates the lag time between the writing andpublication of the entries. There won't be the usual two year delaybetween the time the article is written and the time the encyclopediais published. Some of the articles written for the forthcomingRoutledge Encyclopedia will already be several years old when theyappear in print in 1998.
4. The encyclopedia can be expanded indefinitely; there is nolimit to its inclusiveness or size. New or previously unrecognizedtopics within a given discipline can be included as soon as they arediscovered and judged to be important.
5. For certain controversial topics, the encyclopedia can includemore than one entry on a single topic, each one representing adifferent point of view. This feature reduces the bias that affectsother encyclopedias. The forthcoming Routledge Encyclopedia, bycontrast, will contain just a single entry on each topic. Biases ofthe author may sometimes go unremarked and unsophisticated readerswill be unaware of the alternative point of view. We are in aposition to publish two or more entries on controversial topics in thephilosophy of mind, medical ethics (euthanasia, abortion), politicalphilosophy, etc.
6. Not only will the Bibliography sections be up to date whenentries first come online (since there is no lag time between thewriting and publication of the entry), but also, for the first time,encyclopedia entries can be accompanied by more comprehensivebibliographies. Print- and CD-ROM-based encyclopedias have a fixedamount of space to publish bibliographies and so the authors can listonly a small number of first-rank articles in the field. Our authorscan give a complete listing of first-rank articles and books. If thelist proves to be overwhelming, they can further divide the list intofirst-rank articles and books that must be read and those that shouldbe read. If the list of first-rank articles and books is notoverwhelming, the author may develop a more inclusive bibliography.The bibliographies of our entries will therefore becometheplace to look for references to a given philosophical topic. Weexpect our authors to update their bibliography once a year.
7. The encyclopedia will have anautomaticcross-referencing system. When new entries come online, the keywordsin the section ‘Related Entries’ will be automaticallylinked to the other entries in the Encyclopedia and the keyword in theother entries referring to the new entry will be linked to the newentry.
8. The encyclopedia will include not only internal links thatcross-reference the entries, but each entry will containupdatable external links in a special section called‘Other Internet Resources’. The authors may judge whichother Internet sites are worthy of being linked into this section oftheir entry. For example, Andrew Irvine's entry on Bertrand Russellhas both internal and external links. In the section ‘OtherInternet Resources’ in this entry, there are links to the onlineRussell Archives at McMaster University, the Bertrand Russell Societyweb page, the web page of the Bertrand Russell Editorial Project, etc.These updatable links cannot be included in print- or CD-ROM-basedencyclopedias, much less be maintained and kept up to date. Theentry on Russell in the forthcoming Routledge Encyclopedia will lacksuch connections to these invaluable Internet resources!
9. The internet format avoids most of the expenses of productionand distribution connected with a major reference work. It eliminatesmany of the expenses of producing a printed document or CD-ROM:typesetting, copy-editing, printing, and distribution expenses are nolonger necessary. We provide authors with an HTML template so thatthey can easily typeset their entries in HTML using an HTML-editorsuch as Netscape Navigator Gold (there are now over 10 suchHTML-editors on the market, many of which are free for academic use).^[1] The editing will be done collaboratively by the editorial assistants,authors, board members, and Editor as a routine function of thequality control systems.
10. A dynamic encyclopedia can change in response to new technologyas new tools and languages develop. For example, if Java becomes morewidespread, Encyclopedia entries on neural nets, turing machines,prisoner's dilemmas, evolutionary game theory, etc., can includedemonstrations and ‘applets’ that the user of theEncyclopedia can download to learn interactively the concepts beingdiscussed.
11. Statistics software can process the information in the accesslog of the encyclopedia web server and identify which sites usersaccess it from, which entries they access most,which topics theysearch for, etc. Such information can help inform decisionsabout which entries to add, where to advertise, etc. This informationis absolutely invaluable to the editors of an encyclopedia, and yet,no such access statistics can be maintained for static encyclopedias.Since numerous copies of static encyclopedias exist, there is no wayto track the frequency individual entries are read. Our access log,which excludes the accesses by our own computers and recognizable WWWindexing worms, indicates that just in the period from September 15,1996 to September 20, 1997, there were over 19,000 accesses from theU.S. educational (edu) domain, over 24,000 from the commercial (com)domain, over 1000 from the U.S. government (gov) domain, over 300 fromthe U.S. military (mil) domain, close to 20,000 from the network (net)domain, and over 1000 from the non-profit organization (org) domain(another 27,000 accesses were unresolved). These logs also show thatduring that same period, the Encyclopedia has been accessed from over90 different countries, that Andrew Irvine's entry on Bertrand Russellhas been accessed nearly 10,000 times, and that our encyclopedia hasrecently started to average over 8000 accesses per week. (See theRecent Access Statistics page (General Statistical Summary for theperiod of September 15, 1996 – September 20, 1997), which is linkedinto the Editorial Information page of the Encyclopedia.)

No print or CD-ROM based edition of an encyclopedia has the abovefeatures and this includes the Routledge Encyclopedia forthcoming in1998.

Future Significance

What is the future significance of this project, in the context ofpresent availability of encyclopedias in philosophy? In 1998, we willsee the publication of a major new reference work, the vast RoutledgeEncyclopedia of Philosophy. A new supplementary volume for 1967Macmillan Encyclopedia was released last year. At least ten otherreference works in philosophy have been released recently.^[2] It might seem, then, that the reference needs of philosophers arewell-served, and that there is little need for the project of anonline Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

This is not so, however. The last major, comprehensive encyclopediabefore Routledge's was the 1967 Macmillan Encyclopedia. Even in arelatively slow moving field such as philosophy, 30 years is a longtime to wait between encyclopedias. As fine as the MacmillanEncyclopedia was, by the time it was five years old, its value as areference work for the philosophy profession had greatly diminished.By the mid to late 1970s, a student might go to an encyclopedialooking for information about the Kripke/Donnellan theory ofreference, the Lewis and Armstrong identity theories of mind, Putnam'sfunctionalist theory of mind, or Rawls's theory of justice and findnothing of value in the Macmillan Encyclopedia. So the philosophycommunity went for 20–25 years before the recent handbooks anddictionaries attempted to fill the gap.

In this context, the Routledge Encyclopedia will be a welcomeaddition and a wonderful new tool. But within the next five to tenyears, it too will be out of date, along with the other referenceworks in philosophy cited. There are more professional philosophers,more journals, more articles, more books than every before in history.There is much valuable and interesting work being done that will becited in undergraduate classes long before another encyclopedia is dueon the present thirty year cycle.

Moreover, the philosophy profession cannot be confident that therewill ever be another major print encyclopedia. The Routledgeencyclopedia represents an enormous investment. The cost of purchaseis also enormous, about $2500 for the CD-ROM edition. Routledge willnot be quick to replace it. And yet even the CD-ROM technology isalready dated for reference tools. By contrast, the Internet is idealfor reference tools, but not ideal (as far as one can see at present)for traditional private print publishers to make money.

Those academic disciplines deemed more scientific and essentialto national goals or business interests than philosophy will have manymore ways to subsidize their reference needs. We believe apartnership between CSLI and the philosophy profession to develop anonline philosophy encyclopedia represents the best chance for theprofession not to be left behind and without adequate reference toolsin the future.

Our online encyclopedia, by its nature, will never be‘finished’. But we project that it will be mature, in thesense of having virtually all presently planned entries complete, inabout four years. Within two years thereafter, its inventory ofarticles should be very close to that of the Routledge. That meansour Encyclopedia will be available as a full-fledged alternative forphilosophy studentsat about the time that the Routledgeencyclopedia begins to show signs of age, and at a time when studentswill increasingly be familiar with the web and expect to use it forreference work. Because of the fact that our Encyclopedia is‘alive’, it will stay current.

Thus, we propose not to redo the work that has already been done forthe Routledge Encyclopedia, but to to use new technology to beginworking on the next generation of reference tools for philosophers andtheir students.

Funding the Encyclopedia

Most of the effort that goes into the creation and maintenance of theEncyclopedia will be donated by those who welcome the opportunity toadvance the serious study of their favorite topics and figures. Ourplan is that the authors, the Board of Editors and the Advisory Boardwill be unpaid (unless the Encyclopedia resolves its fundingproblems). For the foreseeable future, CSLI will provide an officefor the Encyclopedia staff and computer, backup systems, and coverother indirect costs. If in the future CSLI goes out of existence oris unable to provide this support, it seems likely some otherinstitution could be found that would do so, either here at Stanfordor on some other campus. The amount of space and computer power arenot that great, by the standards of late twentieth century Americanacademia.

However, we do not believe the Encyclopedia can function on acompletely volunteer basis. At a minimum, we must pay for a part-timeEditor, part-time editorial assistants and at least one part-timecomputer programmer. Some equipment and supplies have to be purchasedand telephone and other services (e.g., networking) need to be paidfor. We estimate costs (November 1997) as follows:

1. Staff Salaries: $100,000
2. Staff Benefits: $25,000
3. Supplies, equipment, services, etc.: $25,000
------------
4. Total: $150,000

Print encyclopedias are funded by sales to individual and institutional users. Our hope is our dynamic encyclopedia will remain free to all individual users. There should be as few obstacles to the serious study of philosophy as possible. We hope that the online encyclopedia will be available to anyone anywhere with access to the net.

The institutions most closely associated with users includePhilosophy departments, universities (and their libraries), andprofessional organizations for philosophers (such as the APA, CPA,AAP, etc.). Universities should be able, in the long run, to supportonline encyclopedias and other online resource materials from the samebudget lines used for print materials that now serve these purposes.One strategy for funding the Encyclopedia would be to chargeuniversity libraries a nominal yearly access (subscription) fee. Thissubscription fee would give computers based at those universities theright to access the Encyclopedia. If 1000 universities each pay$150/year for unrestricted access to the Encyclopedia, theEncyclopedia's projected annual budget would be covered. The$150/year access fee could simply represent an average—the fee couldbe set so that universities with larger (smaller) budgets or studentpopulations pay a proportionally larger (smaller) access fee. Thiswould keep the Encyclopedia free to the public.

However, in the short run, we do not expect to be able to tap theseresources. Our Encyclopedia won't be mature for another 3 - 5 years.Right now, we want University libraries to use their funds to purchasethe much anticipated Routledge Encyclopedia. Until our encyclopediahas matured, we will need to look elsewhere for support.

We feel that Philosophy departments and professional organizationsare natural sources of funding. Philosophy departments differenormously in the amount of discretionary funds available to them,with the mean amount extremely low. Some departments do have suchfunds, however, and a few hundred dollars from a number of suchdepartments could help significantly. However, we prefer not toapproach individual departments until there is mature product thatwill be useful to them. (We might make an exception for a number ofthe most well-endowed departments, some of which are represented onour Editorial Board.) At the startup phase, it seems more appropriateto approach those institutions part of whose mission, or enlightenedself-interest, is to help projects like this get off the ground.Within philosophy, this means professional organizations like the APA.At this point, the Pacific APA and the CPA have made generouscontributions, and we have approached the Central and Eastern APA. Ofcourse, a commitment at the national level would be preferable.

Among the funding sources that are not directly connected toEncyclopedia users, we distinguish between government sources,foundations, and businesses. We have received a 2-year grant from theNEH. They will give us $120,000 to develop the Encyclopedia, to bedelivered over two years (AY 1998-99 and 1999-2000). We will applyfor an NSF grant through the Digital Libraries II initiative. If thisproposal proves successful, this would take care of our funding needsuntil 2003, at which point the Encyclopedia will be close tomaturity.

We are just beginning to solicit funds from appropriate foundations.The development and fund-raising staffs at CSLI and Stanford are beingmost helpful in this respect.

It seems to us that Netscape, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other companieswith a stake in the future of the Internet might have multiple reasonsfor investing in our Encyclopedia. In this regard, it would be veryhelpful to discover philosophers within such companies who would bewilling to help us identify and approach the relevant people withfunding authority.

(Some of these companies have been indirectly funding theEncyclopedia for the past two years through CSLI's IndustrialAffiliates program.CSLI was founded in 1983 with a grant from the Systems DevelopmentFoundation. These funds were exhausted long ago. Since 1993, the Industrial Affiliates program has been the principal source of CSLI's operating budget.)

A final possibility for money from the private sector is advertising.One can imagine tasteful and wholly appropriate links from theEncyclopedia home page to the websites of publishers of philosophybooks. Whether these publishers will find this to be a economical useof their advertising budgets remains to be seen.

We would welcome comments from the APA membership on any aspect of fund-raising. Anything from leads concerning fund-raising in industry to comments about the appropriateness of advertising would be welcome.

John Perry and Edward N. Zalta
CSLI/Philosophy Department
Stanford University
November 1997

Footnotes

1. When using such HTML-editors, the author simply selects (highlights)text and then uses ‘menu’ functions to format the text invarious ways (such as to italicize, to put the text in a listenvironment, to create a link and use the text as the label on thatlink, etc). The HTML-editor then creates the appropriate HTML code inthe underlying HTML file.(return to text note 1)

2. The list includes:A Companion to the Philosophy of Language(Blackwell, 1997),Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy(Routledge, 1997),Routledge History of Philosophy(Routledge, 1997),Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (OxfordUniversity Press, 1996),Blackwell Companion to Philosophy(Blackwell, 1996),Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth CenturyPhilosophers (Routledge, 1995),Cambridge Dictionary ofPhilosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1995), OxfordCompanion to Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 1995),ACompanion to Metaphysics (Blackwell, 1995),A Companion toEpistemology (Blackwell, 1992),A Companion to the Philosophyof Mind (Blackwell, 1994), andHandbook on Metaphysics andOntology (Philosophia Verlag, 1991).(return to text note 2)