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utilitarianism

(Encyclopedia)utilitarianism yo͞oˌtĭlĭtrˈēənĭzəm, yo͞otĭˌ– [key], in ethics, the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happines...

Parker, Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Parker, Theodore, 1810–60, American theologian and social reformer, b. Lexington, Mass. He graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1836 and was pastor (1837–46) of the Spring Street Unitarian Ch...

Stein, Gertrude

(Encyclopedia)Stein, Gertrude, 1874–1946, American author and patron of the arts, b. Allegheny (now part of Pittsburgh), Pa. A celebrated personality, she encouraged, aided, and influenced—through her patronage...

Cushing, Frank Hamilton

(Encyclopedia)Cushing, Frank Hamilton, 1857–1900, American ethnologist, b. North East, Pa. He published his first scientific paper at the age of 17, and at 18 joined the American ethnology bureau at the Smithsoni...

Gordon, John Brown

(Encyclopedia)Gordon, John Brown, 1832–1904, U.S. public official and Confederate general, b. Upson co., Ga. Gordon began his Civil War service as an infantry captain and so distinguished himself through four yea...

Bourne, Randolph Silliman

(Encyclopedia)Bourne, Randolph Silliman bôrn [key], 1886–1918, American author and social critic, b. Bloomfield, N.J., grad. Columbia Univ., 1912. His critical examination of the American way of life established...

Shahn, Ben

(Encyclopedia)Shahn, Ben (Benjamin Shahn), 1898–1969, American painter and graphic artist, b. Lithuania. Shahn emigrated to the United States in 1906. After working in lithography until 1930, his style crystalliz...

Desaix de Veygoux, Louis Charles Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Desaix de Veygoux, Louis Charles Antoine lwē shärl äNtwänˈ dəsāˈ də vāgo͞oˈ [key], 1768–1800, French general in the French Revolutionary Wars. He served under J. B. Jourdan and J. V. Mor...

Ney, Elisabeth

(Encyclopedia)Ney, Elisabeth or Elisabet nī [key], 1833–1907, German-American sculptor, b. Münster. After studying sculpture at Munich and Berlin, she traveled widely and executed busts of King George V of Hano...

Burroughs, William Seward

(Encyclopedia)Burroughs, William Seward, 1914–97, American novelist, b. St. Louis, grad. Harvard, 1936, moved to New York City, 1943. He was an elder member of the beat generation. Junkie (1953), originally publi...