"The purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure pure reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little pratice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" - Calvin (and Hobbes)
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There are many sites that provide links to philosophical pages, works or references. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is easily the most comprehensive available, with in-depth articles and links to further reading. Written by experts, it is the best to refer to when either supporting an argument/summary or looking for more information. Another possibility is the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Meta-Encyclopedia of Philosophy is comprised of seven different dictionaries that may be used to compare definitions of important terms and hence appreciate the subtleties of philosophical concepts, while the Dictionary of the History of Ideas is an online version of this famous work.
Philosophy Pages is a site providing several useful resources, including a dictionary of philosophical terms, an history and timeline of philosophical development and key thinkers, and a study guide. The Philosophy RefDesk is a gateway to some of these and others, while Episteme Links is also a huge resource containing thousands of links to philosophical sites, all catalogued for ease of navigation and use. In particular, many of the most famous philosophical works can be read online - try the Gutenberg Project, the EServer site or go via the Episteme electronic texts front page. A particularly fine resource for beginners is the Early Modern Texts site, providing new versions of many classic texts from the so-called Early Modern period in an easier-to-read format while linking back to the originals.
