The Swiss historian Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (1818-1897) was a philosophical historian whose books dealt with cultural and artistic history and whose lectures examined the forces that had shaped European history. Through the use of eyewi...

The British statesman Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was a noted political theorist and philosophical writer. He was born in Ireland, spent most of his active life in English politics, and died the political oracle of conservative Europe. Edmund...

Business Process Reengineering Process reengineering is redesigning or reinventing how we perform our daily work, and it is a concept that is applicable to all industries regardless of size, type, and location. While selected elements of pr...

The English philosopher and theologian Joseph Butler (1692-1752) developed a moral philosophy based on human nature and a natural theology that emphasized the validity of Christian beliefs. Joseph Butler was born on May 18, 1692, at Wantag...

Caffeine What Kind of Drug Is It? Caffeine is a natural stimulant. A stimulant is a substance that increases the activity of a living organism or one of its parts. Caffeine was named after the shrubby coffee plant, which is native to the ea...

Metropolitan Achievement Tests Achievement tests that assess general language skills, arithmetic skills, and reading comprehension. The Metropolitan Achievement Tests feature a battery of group-administered achievement tests that assess gen...

The German mathematician Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor (1845-1918) was noted for his theory of sets and his bold analysis of the "actual" infinite, which provoked a critical examination of the foundations of mathematics and eventua...

Catha Edulis What Kind of Drug Is It? Khat is a STIMULANT that comes from the fresh leaves of a shrubby bush known as Catha edulis. These leaves, along with the youngest of twigs on the bush, have both a chemical structure and an effect sim...

"Having a child with cerebral palsy can be very difficult, stressful, and at times very frustrating, but one look from Adam and I know it's all worth it," says mother, Beth Muraida, of her 15 year old son, Adam. "Before Adam was born I had...

Chain of Command Principle The chain of command, sometimes called the scaler chain, is the formal line of authority, communication, and responsibility within an organization. The chain of command is usually depicted on an organizational cha...

William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), an American minister, was a key Unitarian theologian for the mid-19th century. William Ellery Channing came from what is known as "the best New England stock." That is, his ancestors arrived in New Engl...

François René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), one of the first French romantic writers, was a master stylist. Through the poetic prose of his voluminous work he was able to evoke exotic places and to transform and idea...

Childproofing Refers to the practice of altering an environment in such a way as to maximize the safety of small children. According to the National Safety Council, 2,100 children, ages four and under, died as the result of home accidents d...

The household responsibility system has been a crucial national policy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1978. Literally, "responsibility" means that an individual household, or a set of households, assumes the task ...

Chinese Room Argument In 1980 the philosopher John R. Searle published in the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences a simple thought experiment that he called the 319....

Copyright Page Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Second Edition Donald M. Borchert, Editor in Chief 2005018573 This title is also available as an e-book.ISBN 0-02-866072-2Contact your Thomson Gale representative for ordering information. Printed...

To Speak or Not to Speak? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received a Nobel Prize and was honored by the President of the United States for his contributions to society. On the other hand, he was prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, and had his...

Civil Liberties in Emergencies One of the most controversial topics in political theory and analysis is the relationship between the individual and the state. There are a number of rival theories offering different accounts for the justific...

The English theologian and moral philosopher Samuel Clarke (1675-1729) was in his time the foremost exponent of rationalist ethics and a prominent defender of Newtonian physics. Samuel Clarke was born on Oct. 11, 1675, in Norwich, where hi...

Clauberg, Johannes(1622 bingen, Germany: Mohr (Siebeck), 1939....

What are the major challenges to Piaget's theory of cognitive development and what aspects still have value? To answer this question, Piaget's theory of development should be explained along with Vygotsky's theory and the connectionist the...

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor(1772 New York: Oxford University Press, 1989....

Colors The phenomena of "color" pose a special puzzle to philosophers characterizing the mind, the world, and the interaction of the two. In various ways, both subjective and objective, both appearance and reality, color has b...

The Renaissance and Scientific Revolution encompassed the transformation of art, science, medicine, and philosophy, as well as the social, economic, and political life of Europe. Ancient concepts were challenged by new ideas and facts gen...

Communication disorders affecting speech and language can afflict children and adults. They can be the result of damage to the brain's language areas, such as when a person suffers a stroke, and affect the way words are spoken and the way ...