Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

will, in philosophy and psychology

(Encyclopedia)will, in philosophy and psychology, term used to describe that which is alleged to stimulate the motivation of purposeful activity. It is characteristic of the will that it can be observed only in one...

Upanishads

(Encyclopedia)Upanishads o͞opănˈĭshădz [key], speculative and mystical scriptures of Hinduism, regarded as the wellspring of Hindu religious and speculative thought. The Upanishads, which form the last section...

Yoshida, Shigeru

(Encyclopedia)Yoshida, Shigeru shēgāˈro͞o yōˈshēdä [key], 1878–1967, Japanese statesman. He was until 1954 the most powerful political figure in postwar Japan. He was ambassador to Italy (1930–32) and t...

rationalism

(Encyclopedia)rationalism [Lat.,=belonging to reason], in philosophy, a theory that holds that reason alone, unaided by experience, can arrive at basic truth regarding the world. Associated with rationalism is the ...

Remonstrants

(Encyclopedia)Remonstrants rĕmŏnˈstrənts [key], Dutch Protestants, adherents to the ideas of Jacobus Arminius, whose doctrines after his death (1609) were called Arminianism. They were Calvinists but were more ...

Warhol, Andy

(Encyclopedia)Warhol, Andy, 1928–87, American artist and filmmaker, b. Pittsburgh as Andrew Warhola. The leading exponent of the pop art movement and one of the most influential artists of the late 20th cent., he...

Gnosticism

(Encyclopedia)Gnosticism nŏsˈtĭsĭzəm [key], dualistic religious and philosophical movement of the late Hellenistic and early Christian eras. The term designates a wide assortment of sects, numerous by the 2d c...

Baptists

(Encyclopedia)Baptists, denomination of Protestant Christians holding a distinctive belief with regard to the ordinance of baptism. Since 1644 the name has been applied to those who maintain that baptism should be ...

Douglas, Stephen Arnold

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Stephen Arnold, 1813–61, American statesman, b. Brandon, Vt. The Democratic national convention at Charleston, S.C., in 1860 adopted Douglas's recommendations in a platform advocating non...

little magazine

(Encyclopedia)little magazine, term used to designate certain magazines that have as their purpose the publication of art, literature, or social theory by comparatively little-known writers. The little-magazine m...