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norm

(Encyclopedia)norm, authoritative rule or standard by which something is judged and on that basis approved or disapproved. Examples of norms include standards of right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, and truth and ...

virtue

(Encyclopedia)virtue [Lat.,=manliness], in philosophy, quality of good in human conduct. The cardinal virtues, as presented by Plato, were wisdom (or prudence), courage, temperance, and justice. They are to be inte...

Valera, Diego de

(Encyclopedia)Valera, Diego de dyāˈgō dā välāˈrä [key], 1412?–1488?, Spanish adventurer and writer. Reared at the Castilian court, he was page to John II and later became one of his diplomatic agents. He ...

Varona y Pera, Enrique José

(Encyclopedia)Varona y Pera, Enrique José ānrēˈkā hōsāˈ värōˈnä ē pāˈrä [key], 1849–1933, Cuban philosopher and vice president of Cuba (1913–17). Varona was a professor at the Univ. of Havana an...

Xenocrates

(Encyclopedia)Xenocrates zĭnŏkˈrətēz [key], 396–314 b.c., Greek philosopher, b. Chalcedon, successor of Speusippus as head of the Academy. He was a disciple of Plato, whom he accompanied to Sicily in 361 b.c...

Bradley, Francis Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Bradley, Francis Herbert, 1846–1924, English philosopher. He was educated at Oxford, where he became a fellow of Merton College in 1876. His works include Ethical Studies (1876), Principles of Logic...

Sturzo, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Sturzo, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē sto͞orˈtsō [key], 1871–1959, Italian priest and political leader. He taught philosophy and sociology at a seminary in his native Sicily. In 1919 he founded the Popular ...

teleology

(Encyclopedia)teleology tĕlˌēŏlˈəjē, tēˌlē– [key], in philosophy, term applied to any system attempting to explain a series of events in terms of ends, goals, or purposes. It is opposed to mechanism, th...

Spengler, Oswald

(Encyclopedia)Spengler, Oswald spĕngˈglər, Ger. ôsˈvält shpĕngˈglər [key], 1880–1936, German historian and philosopher. His studies covered many fields, among them mathematics, science, philosophy, histo...

Brunschvicg, Léon

(Encyclopedia)Brunschvicg, Léon lāôNˈ brünˈshvēk [key], 1869–1944, French philosopher, b. Paris. From 1909 until his death he taught at the Sorbonne. Brunschvicg's philosophy, which has had considerable in...