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natural law
(Encyclopedia)natural law, theory that some laws are basic and fundamental to human nature and are discoverable by human reason without reference to specific legislative enactments or judicial decisions. Natural la...Pre-Raphaelites
(Encyclopedia)Pre-Raphaelites prēˌ-răfˈēəlītsˌ [key], brotherhood of English painters and poets formed in 1848 in protest against what they saw as the low standards and decadence of British art. The princip...Hobbes, Thomas
(Encyclopedia)Hobbes, Thomas hŏbz [key], 1588–1679, English philosopher, grad. Magdalen College, Oxford, 1608. For many years a tutor in the Cavendish family, Hobbes took great interest in mathematics, physics, ...Santayana, George
(Encyclopedia)Santayana, George säntäyäˈnä [key], 1863–1952, American philosopher and poet, b. Madrid, Spain. Santayana's philosophic stance has been given the apparently opposite descriptions of materiali...bourgeoisie
(Encyclopedia)bourgeoisie bo͝orzhwäzēˈ [key], originally the name for the inhabitants of walled towns in medieval France; as artisans and craftsmen, the bourgeoisie occupied a socioeconomic position between the...Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
(Encyclopedia)Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich gāˈôrkh vĭlˈhĕlm frēˈdrĭkh hāˈgəl [key], 1770–1831, German philosopher, b. Stuttgart; son of a government clerk. Hegel has influenced many subsequent p...soul
(Encyclopedia)soul, the vital, immaterial, life principle, generally conceived as existing within humans and sometimes within all living things, inanimate objects, and the universe as a whole. Religion and philosop...Carlyle, Thomas
(Encyclopedia)Carlyle, Thomas, 1795–1881, English author, b. Scotland. One of the most important social critics of his day, Carlyle influenced many men of the younger generation, among them Matthew Arnold and J...Melville, Herman
(Encyclopedia)Melville, Herman, 1819–91, American author, b. New York City, considered one of the great American writers and a major figure in world literature. Like Moby-Dick, Pierre; or, The Ambiguities (18...Thoreau, Henry David
(Encyclopedia)Thoreau, Henry David thôrˈō, thərōˈ [key], 1817–62, American author, naturalist, social activist, and philosopher, b. Concord, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1837. Thoreau is considered one of the most...Browse by Subject
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