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Wolff, Christian von

(Encyclopedia)Wolff or Wolf, Christian von krĭsˈtyän fən vôlf [key], 1679–1754, German philosopher. One of the first to use the German language instead of Latin, he systematized and popularized the doctrines...

Wayland, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Wayland, Francis, 1796–1865, American clergyman and educator, b. New York City, grad. Union College, 1813, and studied at Andover Theological Seminary. As pastor (1821–26) of the First Baptist Chu...

alchemy

(Encyclopedia)alchemy ălˈkəmē [key], ancient art of obscure origin that sought to transform base metals (e.g., lead) into silver and gold; forerunner of the science of chemistry. Some scholars hold that it was ...

existentialism

(Encyclopedia)existentialism ĕgzĭstĕnˈshəlĭzəm, ĕksĭ– [key], any of several philosophic systems, all centered on the individual and his relationship to the universe or to God. Important existentialists o...

Mendelssohn, Moses

(Encyclopedia)Mendelssohn, Moses mĕnˈdəlsən, Ger. mōˈzĕs mĕnˈdəls-zōnˌ [key], 1729–86, German-Jewish philosopher; grandfather of Felix Mendelssohn. He was a leader in the movement for cultural assimil...

Murry, John Middleton

(Encyclopedia)Murry, John Middleton, 1889–1957, English critic and editor. In 1919 he became editor of the Athenaeum and in 1923 founded his own review, the Adelphi, with which he was associated until 1948. He wa...

Nathan, George Jean

(Encyclopedia)Nathan, George Jean, 1882–1958, American editor and drama critic, b. Fort Wayne, Ind. He left the New York Herald to join H. L. Mencken in editing Smart Set (1914–23), which they made into a guide...

Macdonald, Dwight

(Encyclopedia)Macdonald, Dwight, 1906–82, American author and editor, b. New York City. As an associate editor (1928–36) of the business magazine Fortune he acquired a distaste for capitalism, and in 1937 he be...

Kołakowski, Leszek

(Encyclopedia)Kołakowski, Leszek lĕshˈĕk kôˌwəkôfˈskē [key], 1927–2009, Polish philosopher, b. Radom, Ph.D Univ. of Warsaw, 1953. A Marxist revisionist and a critic of the Eastern European Communism he ...

Martineau, Harriet

(Encyclopedia)Martineau, Harriet märˈtĭnō [key], 1802–76, English author. A journalist rather than a writer of literature, she was an enormously popular author. Her success is the more remarkable since she wa...