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Craxi, Bettino

(Encyclopedia)Craxi, Bettino bətēˈnō krăˈksē [key], 1934–99, Italian political leader. Craxi joined the Italian Socialist party in 1957, eventually becoming deputy secretary (1970) and general secretary (1...

Dekker, Eduard Douwes

(Encyclopedia)Dekker, Eduard Douwes məltätüˈlē [key], 1820–87, Dutch novelist. His experiences in the Dutch colonial service in Java (1838–57) made him an ardent advocate of reform in colonial administrati...

initiation

(Encyclopedia)initiation, the transition and attendant ceremonies, such as ordeals and rites, involved in passing from one state or status to another, often from childhood to adulthood. It was among the most import...

Frankel, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Frankel, Charles, 1917–79, American philosopher, b. New York City, grad. Columbia 1937, Ph.D., 1946. A teacher at Columbia since 1939, he became Old Dominion professor of philosophy and public affai...

Vervins, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Vervins, Treaty of vĕrvăNˈ [key], 1598, peace treaty signed at the small town of Vervins, Aisne dept., N France, by the representatives of Henry IV of France and Philip II of Spain. It ended the Fr...

Veda

(Encyclopedia)Veda vāˈdə, vēˈdə [key] [Sanskrit,=knowledge, cognate with English wit, from a root meaning know], oldest scriptures of Hinduism and the most ancient religious texts in an Indo-European language...

alabaster

(Encyclopedia)alabaster, fine-grained, massive, translucent variety of gypsum, a hydrous calcium sulfate. It is pure white or streaked with reddish brown. Alabaster, like all other forms of gypsum, forms by the eva...

Hook, Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Hook, Sidney, 1902–89, American philosopher, b. New York City, grad. City College (B.S., 1923), Ph.D. Columbia Univ., 1927. He taught at New York Univ. (1927–72) and was long head of its philosoph...

mores

(Encyclopedia)mores môrˈāz [key], concept developed by William Graham Sumner to designate those folkways that if violated, result in extreme punishment. The term comes from the Latin mos (customs), and although ...

world soul

(Encyclopedia)world soul, Lat. anima mundi, in philosophy, term denoting a universal spirit or soul that functions as an organizing principle. While many early Greek philosophers saw the world as of one principle, ...
 

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