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Zen Buddhism

(Encyclopedia)Zen Buddhism, Buddhist sect of China and Japan. The name of the sect (Chin. Ch'an, Jap. Zen) derives from the Sanskrit dhyana [meditation]. In China the school early became known for making its centra...

Abu Ghraib

(Encyclopedia)Abu Ghraib or Abu Ghurayb äˈbo͞o grĕb [key], infamous prison located in the town of Abu Ghraib, c.20 mi (32 km) W of Baghdad, Iraq. Built by British contractors in the 1960s, it occupies c.280 acr...

Galileo

(Encyclopedia)Galileo (Galileo Galilei) gălˌĭlēˈō; gälēlĕˈō gälēlĕˈē [key], 1564–1642, great Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. By his persistent investigation of natural laws he la...

theology

(Encyclopedia)theology thēŏlˈəjē [key], in Christianity, the systematic study of the nature of God and God's relationship with humanity and with the world. Although other religions may be said to have theologi...

logic

(Encyclopedia)logic, the systematic study of valid inference. A distinction is drawn between logical validity and truth. Validity merely refers to formal properties of the process of inference. Thus, a conclusion w...

Picasso, Pablo

(Encyclopedia)Picasso, Pablo (Pablo Ruiz y Picasso) päˈblō pēkäˈsō; ro͞oēthˈ ē [key], 1881–1973, Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and ceramist, who worked in France. He is generally considere...

Spinoza, Baruch

(Encyclopedia)Spinoza, Baruch or Benedict spinōˈzə [key], 1632–77, Dutch philosopher, b. Amsterdam. Politically, Spinoza and Hobbes again share assumptions about the social contract: Right derives from p...

Communist party, in China

(Encyclopedia)Communist party, in China, ruling party of the world's most populous nation since 1949 and most important Communist party in the world since the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. After the People'...

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand

(Encyclopedia)Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand gänˈdē [key], 1869–1948, Indian political and spiritual leader, b. Porbandar. In 1942, after rejection of his offer to cooperate with Great Britain in World War II ...

Middle Eastern religions

(Encyclopedia)Middle Eastern religions, religious beliefs and practices of the ancient inhabitants of the Middle East. Little was known about the religions of the city-states of W Asia until stores of religious lit...
 

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