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Pan-Slavism

(Encyclopedia)Pan-Slavism, theory and movement intended to promote the political or cultural unity of all Slavs. Advocated by various individuals from the 17th cent., it developed as an intellectual and cultural mo...

Mainz

(Encyclopedia)Mainz mīnts [key], city (1994 pop. 185,487), capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, W Germany, a port on the E bank of the Rhine River opposite the mouth of the Main River. Its French name, also sometimes ...

Baden, former state, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Baden bäˈdən [key], former state, SW Germany. Karlsruhe was the capital. Stretching from the Main River in the northeast across the lower Neckar valley and along the right bank of the Rhine to Lake...

Freemasonry

(Encyclopedia)Freemasonry, teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order officially known as the Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of its identification with 19th-cent...

Spinoza, Baruch

(Encyclopedia)Spinoza, Baruch or Benedict spinōˈzə [key], 1632–77, Dutch philosopher, b. Amsterdam. Politically, Spinoza and Hobbes again share assumptions about the social contract: Right derives from p...

psychology

(Encyclopedia)psychology, science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interaction with the environment. Psychologists study processes of sense perception, thinking, l...

education

(Encyclopedia)education, any process, either formal or informal, that shapes the potential of a maturing organism. Informal education results from the constant effect of environment, and its strength in shaping val...

Dia Art Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Dia Art Foundation, American foundation that supports contemporary art and artists, est. 1974 by art dealer Heiner Friedrich and his wife, art patron Philippa de Menil. The foundation, which commissio...

Heine, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Heine, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh hīˈnə [key], 1797–1856, German poet, b. Düsseldorf, of a Jewish family. One of the greatest of German lyric poets, he had a varied career. After failing in business h...

Popper, Sir Karl Raimund

(Encyclopedia)Popper, Sir Karl Raimund, 1902–94, Anglo-Austrian philosopher, b. Vienna. He became familiar with the Vienna circle of logical positivists (see logical positivism) while a student at the Univ. of Vi...