Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

83 results found

Claudel, Camille

(Encyclopedia)Claudel, Camille (Camille-Rosalie Claudel) kämēˈyə-rōzälēˈ klōdĕlˈ [key], 1864–1943, French sculptor. The sister of the writer Paul Claudel, she studied at the Colarossi Academy (now the ...

altruism

(Encyclopedia)altruism ălˈtro͞oĭzˈəm [key], concept in philosophy and psychology that holds that the interests of others, rather than of the self, can motivate an individual. The term was invented in the 19th...

Messmer, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Messmer, Pierre (Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer) pyĕr mĕsmāˈ [key], 1916–, French political leader. In World War II he fought with the Free French forces before joining General de Gaulle's staff....

positivism

(Encyclopedia)positivism pŏˈzĭtĭvĭzəm [key], philosophical doctrine that denies any validity to speculation or metaphysics. Sometimes associated with empiricism, positivism maintains that metaphysical questio...

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...

Renoir, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Renoir, Jean zhäN rənwärˈ [key], 1894–1979, French film director and writer, b. Paris; son of Pierre Auguste Renoir. He made his first film in 1926. Gathering around him a devoted coterie of act...

Clark, William

(Encyclopedia)Clark, William, 1770–1838, American explorer, one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark expedition, b. Caroline co., Va.; brother of George Rogers Clark. He was an army officer (1792–96), serving ...

clearing

(Encyclopedia)clearing, in banking, the periodic settling of bankers' claims against each other, for which local banks establish clearinghouse associations. Clearinghouses are said to have existed in Florence by a....

naturalism, in philosophy

(Encyclopedia)naturalism, in philosophy, a position that attempts to explain all phenomena and account for all values by means of strictly natural (as opposed to supernatural) categories. The particular meaning of ...

social science

(Encyclopedia)social science, term for any or all of the branches of study that deal with humans in their social relations. Often these studies are referred to in the plural as the social sciences. Although human s...

Browse by Subject