Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Williams, Sir Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Sir Bernard (Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams), 1929–2003, English philosopher, grad. Oxford (1951). One of the most important philosophers of his era, he is credited with reviving the fie...

Helmand

(Encyclopedia)Helmand or Helmund both: hĕlˈmənd [key], river, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, rising in the Hindu Kush Mts., NE Afghanistan and flowing generally SW to the Sistan basin, SW Afghanistan, where it helps ...

Palembang

(Encyclopedia)Palembang pälĕmbängˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 1,144,047), capital of South Sumatra province, on SE Sumatra, Indonesia. The island's largest city, it is a deepwater port on both banks of the Musi Riv...

James, William

(Encyclopedia)James, William, 1842–1910, American philosopher, b. New York City, M.D. Harvard, 1869; son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James and brother of the novelist Henry James. In 1872 he joined the ...

deconstruction

(Encyclopedia)deconstruction, in linguistics, philosophy, and literary theory, the exposure and undermining of the metaphysical assumptions involved in systematic attempts to ground knowledge, especially in academi...

Hopkins, Mark, American educator

(Encyclopedia)Hopkins, Mark, 1802–87, American educator, b. Stockbridge, Mass., grad. Williams, 1824, and Berkshire Medical School, 1829. After a few months of medical practice he returned (1830) to Williams as p...

Deutsch, Gotthard

(Encyclopedia)Deutsch, Gotthard doich [key], 1859–1921, Austrian Jewish scholar and historian. He studied at the rabbinical seminary at Breslau, Germany, and at the Univ. of Vienna (Ph.D., 1881) after which he t...

phenomenon

(Encyclopedia)phenomenon, an observable fact or event; in philosophy the definitions and uses of the term have varied. In the philosophy of Aristotle phenomena were the objects of the senses (e.g., sights and sound...

Royer-Collard, Pierre Paul

(Encyclopedia)Royer-Collard, Pierre Paul pyĕr pōl rwäyāˈ-kô-lärˈ [key], 1763–1845, French statesman and philosopher. After entering the law, he took part in the French Revolution and became a constitution...

Austin, John Langshaw

(Encyclopedia)Austin, John Langshaw, 1911–60, British philosopher. A graduate of Oxford, he was a fellow of All Souls (1933–35) and Magdalen (1935–52) colleges before he became White's professor of moral phil...

Browse by Subject