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Heidegger, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Heidegger, Martin märˈtēn hīˈdĕger [key], 1889–1976, German philosopher. As a student at Freiburg, Heidegger was influenced by the neo-Kantianism of Heinrich Rickert and the phenomenology of E...

Arendt, Hannah

(Encyclopedia)Arendt, Hannah hänˈä ärˈənt [key], 1906–75, German-American political theorist, b. Hanover, Germany, B.A. Königsberg, 1924, Ph.D. Heidelberg, 1928. In 1925 she met Martin Heidegger, who great...

existentialism

(Encyclopedia)existentialism ĕgzĭstĕnˈshəlĭzəm, ĕksĭ– [key], any of several philosophic systems, all centered on the individual and his relationship to the universe or to God. Important existentialists o...

pessimism

(Encyclopedia)pessimism, philosophical opinion or doctrine that evil predominates over good; the opposite of optimism. Systematic forms of pessimism may be found in philosophy and religion. In religion Buddhism and...

Bultmann, Rudolf Karl

(Encyclopedia)Bultmann, Rudolf Karl bo͝oltˈmän [key], 1884–1976, German existentialist theologian, educated at the universities of Tübingen, Berlin, and Marburg. He taught at the universities of Breslau and G...

Chemnitz, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Chemnitz or Kemnitz, Martin both: kĕmˈnĭts [key], 1522–86, German Lutheran theologian. Under the tutelage of Phillip Melanchthon, he accepted and defended Lutheran doctrine, both in lecturing and...

Chalfie, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Chalfie, Martin, 1947–, American biologist, b. Chicago, Ph.D. Harvard, 1977. In 1982 Chalfie joined the faculty at Columbia, where he is now the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Biological Scienc...

Amis, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Amis, Martin āˈmĭs [key], 1949–2023, English novelist; son of Kingsley Amis. The younger Amis, who turned from literary journalism to fiction, invites comparison with...

Niemoeller, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Niemoeller or Niemöller, Martin both: märˈtĭn nēˈmölər [key], 1892–1984, German Protestant churchman. He studied theology after distinguishing himself as a submarine commander in World War I...

McDonagh, Martin

(Encyclopedia)McDonagh, Martin məkdŭnˈə [key], 1970–, Anglo-Irish playwright, b. London to Irish parents. During summer visits he became acquainted with W Ireland, and without any formal training he wrote a s...