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Philosophers are often assigned a unique classification number (and sometimes even a range of numbers) by the Library of Congress classification schedule. Very often, the first Cutter number for books by and about such individuals are derived from the nature of the contents of their works, rather than from the author and title.
German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, for example, has an entire range of numbers dedicated to him and his writings -- B 2750 - B 2799.
Because of this arrangement, there's no point in using "Kant" to devise a Cutter number for a book by or about Kant. It's redundant: we already know from the class range (B 2750 - B 2799) that an item has Kant as its author or is about him. A Cutter number of "K36" would not help us to arrange items on the shelf more rationally than the class number does. (And the rational arrangement of items on the shelf is the only reason we take such care in constructing a call number in the first place).
The LC schedule offers alternative methods of constructing Cutter numbers for philosophical works. In some cases, the Cutter number is based on the title of the book (often the title in the original language). But sometimes it is based on the topic of the book, especially in cases of a work of interpretation or criticism.
For example, G.E. Michalson's, The historical dimensions of a rational faith: the role of history in Kant's religious thought, has this call number:
Note that the first Cutter number (R4) is based on the topic, Religion. If all cataloguers in our library carefully follow the LC schedule, all books dealing with Kant's theory of religion will end up together on the shelf, making it easy for our patrons to find related works.
Again, always consult the LC schedule to determine the Cutter numbers for works by or about philosophers. Not all philosophers have their own class number. In this case, the usual method of devising a call number should be followed. But checking the schedule should help us catch those works which are an exception to the rule and enable us to classify them consistently.
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