Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Burke, John, 1787–1848, Irish genealogist. He issued (1826) A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom. He published the guide irregularly until 1847,...

(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...

(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 ...

(Encyclopedia) International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), worldwide organization of medical groups dedicated to eliminating nuclear weapons and preventing nuclear war, est. 1980. Based in Ca...

(Encyclopedia) Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, or Canticles, book of the Bible, 22d in the order of the Authorized Version. Although traditionally ascribed to King Solomon, many scholars date it as late as the 3d c...

(Encyclopedia) Glyndebourne Festival glīnˈdəbərn, glīnˈbôrn [key], opera festival given each summer since 1934 on the estate of John Christie at Glyndebourne, near Lewes, Sussex, England. The festival is know...

(Encyclopedia) Lucius III, d. 1185, pope (1181–85), a native of Lucca named Ubaldo Allucingoli; successor of Alexander III. He was a Cistercian with St. Bernard and was created a cardinal in 1141 by Innocent II. H...

(Encyclopedia) Aosta äôˈstä [key], city, capital of Valle d'Aosta region and of Aosta prov., NW Italy, near the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard roads. Aosta is an indust...

(Encyclopedia) Williams, Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain, Baroness Williams of Crosby 1930–, British politician. Daughter of the political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin and the novelist Vera Brittain,...

(Encyclopedia) metaphysics mĕtəfĭzˈĭks [key], branch of philosophy concerned with the ultimate nature of existence. It perpetuates the Metaphysics of Aristotle, a collection of treatises placed after the Physic...