Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

46 results found

Descartes, René

(Encyclopedia)Descartes, René rənāˈ dākärtˈ [key], Lat. Renatus Cartesius, 1596–1650, French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, b. La Haye. Descartes' methodology was a major influence in the trans...

belief

(Encyclopedia)belief, in philosophy, commitment to something, involving intellectual assent. Philosophers have disagreed as to whether belief is active or passive; René Descartes held that it is a matter of will, ...

innate ideas

(Encyclopedia)innate ideas, in philosophy, concepts present in the mind at birth as opposed to concepts arrived at through experience. The theory has been advanced at various times in the history of philosophy to s...

Edelinck, Gérard

(Encyclopedia)Edelinck, Gérard zhārärˈ ādəlăNkˈ [key], 1640–1707, French engraver, b. Antwerp. He is known for his faithful interpretations of the work of Raphael, Le Brun, Champaigne, and other masters a...

Châtellerault

(Encyclopedia)Châtellerault shätĕlrōˈ [key], town, Vienne dept., W central France. It is an industrial center ...

Flèche, La

(Encyclopedia)Flèche, La lä flĕsh [key], town, Sarthe dept., on the Loir River. The town has a few light ...

Pajou, Augustin

(Encyclopedia)Pajou, Augustin ōgüstăNˈ päzho͞oˈ [key], 1730–1809, French sculptor. He won the Prix de Rome at the age of 18 and began a long career of royal commissions. He is noted for the elegance of his...

occasionalism

(Encyclopedia)occasionalism, metaphysical doctrine that denies that finite things have any active power and asserts that God is the only cause, whereas physical events and mental states are only occasions for God's...

Pappus

(Encyclopedia)Pappus păpˈəs [key], fl. c.300, Greek mathematician of Alexandria. He recorded and enlarged on the results of his predecessors, including Euclid and Apollonius of Perga, in his Mathematical Collect...

Browse by Subject