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Dictionary of Philosophy - Dagobert D. Runes Category: Language and Literature > Philosophy Date & country: 17/05/2009, UK Words: 2784

Introspective Method
The method in psychology, which, in opposition to the objective method of Behaviorism (See Behaviorism) relies largely upon introspective observation. See Introspection. -- L.W.

Intuitio
A term generally employed by Spinoza in a more technical sense than that found in the Cartesian philosophy (see Reg. ad Dir. Ing., III). It is primarily used by Spinoza in connection with 'scientia intuitiva' or knowledge 'of the third kind' (Ethica, II, 40, Schol. 2). Intuition of this sort is absolutely certain and infallible, in contrast to rea...

Intuition
(Lat. intuere, to look at) The direct and immediate apprehension by a knowing subject of itself, of its conscious states, of other minds, of an external world, of universals, of values or of rational truths. -- L.W.

Intuitionism (mathematical)
The name given to the school (of mathematics) founded by L. E. J. Brouwer (q. v.) and represented also by Hermann Weyl, Hans Freudenthal, Arend Heyting, and others. In some respects a historical forerunner of intuitionism is the mathematician Leopold Kronecker (1823-1891). Views related to intuitionism (but usually not including the rejection of t...

Intuitionism (philosophical)
(1) In general: any philosophy in which intuition is appealed to as the basis of knowledge, or at least of philosophical knowledge. (2) In ethics: in the narrower traditional sense, intuitionism is the view that certain actions or kinds of action may be known to be right or wrong by a direct intuition of their rightness or wrongness, without any ...

Intuitive cognition
Intuitive cognition is the apprehension of an object (e.g. the hearing of a bell) in contrast to thinking about an object (e.g. 'thinking about a bell'). (See C. D. Broad, The Mind and its Place in Nature, p. 144.) See Acquaintance, Knowledge by. -- L.W.

Invariant
A constant quantity. In mathematics, a quantity which remains the same under a group of transformations. -- J.K.F.

Invention
As a practical activity is distinguished from creation as an artistic activity. -- L.V.

Irony, Socratic
See Socratic method.

Irregularity, (Theory of)
In art as in nature all beauty is irregular (Renoir).- -- L.V.

Irrelevant
Not bearing upon, or logically related to, the point under discussion, or the case in hand. -- G.R.M.

Is, Isa, Isana, Isvara
(Skr.) 'Lord', an example of the vacillating of Indian philosophy between theology and metaphysics. They often use such theistic nomenclature for the Absolute without always wishing to endow it as such with personal attributes except as may be helpful to a lower intelligence or to one who feels the need of worship and bhakti (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Islam
Name peculiar to the religion founded by Mohammed, embracing all sects found among his followers. Etymologically the term means 'to resign oneself'. The word means not fatalistic submission to the deity, but striving after righteousness, the practice of the law, obedience to rules and formal performance of outward duties. Meaning the acceptance of...

Isolation by Varying Concomitants
In the logic of scientific method, the fourth of the five experimental methods of J. S. Mill (1806-1873), whereby cause can be determined in an actual case. Known also as the Method of Concomitant Variation. Stated by Mill as follows: 'Whatever phenomenon varies in any manner whenever another phenomenon varies in some particular manner, is either ...

Isomorphism
(Gr. isos, equal + morphe, form) Similarity of structure. In Gestalt psychology, structural similarity between fields in the brain and the content of consciousness. In logic and mathematics, a relation between two systems such that there exists a one-one correspondence between their elements, and an identity of some relation that holds between any...

Jacobi, Friedrich Heinrich
(1743-1819) German philosopher of 'feeling' who opposed the Kantian tradition. He held that the system of absolute subjective idealism, to which he reduced Kant, could not grasp ultimate reality. He was equally opposed to a dogmatic rationalism such as the Spinozistic. He based his view upon feeling, belief or faith by which he purported to find t...

Jainism
An Indian religion claiming great antiquity, the last of the great teachers (tirthankara) being Mahavira (6th cent. B.C.), embracing many philosophical elements of a pluralistic type of realism. It rejects Vedic (q.v.) authority and an absolute being, gods as well as men partaking of mortality, and holds the mythologically conceived world to be et...

Jamblicus
(c. 270-330 A.D.) A Syrian Neo-Platonist, who wrote extensive commentaries on Hellenic and Oriental theology and transformed Plotinus' teachings into a dogmatic theology of metaphysical pantheism. -- R.B.W.

Jansenism
The teaching of Cornelius Jansen, latinized Jansenius (1585-1638), Bishop of Ypres, and his followers in France and Holland. Its most significant doctrines were the total corruption of human nature owing to original sin, man's inability to resist either concupiscence or grace implying the denial of free will, predestination, and the denial that Ch...

Jaspers, Karl
(1883-) Inspired by Nietzsche's and Kierkegaard's psychology, but aiming at a strictly scientific method, the 'existentialist' Jaspers analyzes the possible attitudes of man towards the world; the decisions which the individual must make in inescapable situations like death, struggle, change, guilt; and the various ways in which man meets these si...

Jefferson, Thomas
(1743-1826) Third president of the United States. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence, which remains as one of the monuments to his firm faith in democratic principles. His opposition to Hamiltonian centralization of power placed him at one extreme of the arc described by the pendulum of political theory that has swayed through th...

Jehovah
(Hebrew Yahveh, of doubtful origin and meaning) Personal name of God or the supreme being in Hebrew theological and philosophical writings, common only since the 14th century; the national god of Israel since Mosaic times. Neither name was originally pronounced as written on account of its holiness, but was replaced by Elohim and Adonai. -- K.F.L....

Jen
Man. Goodness; virtue in general; the moral principle; the moral ideal of the superior man (chun. tzu); the fundamental as well as the sum total of virtues, just as the Prime (yuan) is the origin and the vital force of all things -- jen consisting of 'man' and 'two' and yuan consisting of 'two' and 'man'. (Confucianism.) True manhood; man's chara...

Jesuitism
Noun applied rather loosely to the teachings and practices of the Jesuits, a religious order of men of the Roman Catholic Church engaged in missionary and educational work. Originally it was called the Company, but in the Bull of Pope Paul III approving it in 1540, the Society of Jesus. Besides the three usual vows the members take a fourth of spe...

Jewish Philosophy
Jewish philosophy is primarily a religious philosophy. Its first manifestation took place in Egypt where Judaism came in contact with Hellenic culture, and the result was the development of an extensive speculation among the Jews of Alexandria, the most important representative of which was Philo (q.v.). With the disappearance of the Egyptian Dias...

Jiva
(Skr.) Life; also the individual, conscious soul as distinguished from the universal soul or the Absolute. -- K.F.L.

Jlvanmukta
(Skr.) One who has attained salvation while in this present life: all but a remainder of prarabdha karma (q.v.) has been neutralized and no new karma is accumulated in virtue of the person's having gained insight, jnana (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Jnana
(Skr.) Cognition, knowledge, wisdom, philosophic understanding, insight, believed by some Indian philosophers to effect moksa (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Jnanendriya
(Skr.) One of the five indriyas (q.v.) of knowledge, the cognitive senses or powers of hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, and tasting. -- K.F.L.

Jodl, Friedrich
(1848-1914) His central interest was research in the field of ethics; engaged in developing a humanistic and naturalistic ethic. Made his most notable contribution in the history of ethical theories. Following the positivists Feuerbach, Comte and Mill, he projected a new religion of national culture. Main works: Gesch. der Ethik, 1906; Wissensch u...

John of Salisbury
(c 1115-1180) From the works of this Englishman, much can be learned about the schoolmen of his day for he presents cogent criticism of their views which he characterizes as fruitless. In his Metalogicus he advocates reform in logic. He was among the earliest adherents of absolute separation of church and state, a view which he advanced in Policra...

Joseph, Albo
(1380-1444) Jewish philosopher. His Ikkarim, i.e., Dogmas is devoted primarily to the problem of dogmatics. He differs with Maimonides who fixed the Articles of Creed at thirteen, and posits only three fundamental dogmas. Belief in the existence of God; Divine origin of the Torah; Reward and punishment. The others are of secondary importance. See...

Jou
Weakness; the principle of weakness, opposite of the principle of strength; the outstanding characteristic of the Earthly Principle (k'un) and corresponding to the passive cosmic principle (Yin). See Kang. -- W.T.C.

Ju chia
The Confucian School, which 'delighted in the study of the six Classics and paid attention to matters concerning benevolence and righteousness. They regarded Yao and Shun (mythological emperors) as founders whose example is to be followed, King Wen (1184-1135 B.C.?) and King Wu (1121-1116 B.C.?) as illustrious examples, and honored Confucius (551-...

Ju chiao
The teachings of the Confucian school, which are based on the Confucian classics with the chief emphasis on ethics and polity. Since the establishment of Confucianism as the state cult in the second century A.D., the term has also been used to designate the traditional system of worship of Shang Ti, ancestors, etc., which the Confucians followed. ...

Ju
Confucianists. Scholars who were versed in the six arts, namely, the rules of propriety, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and mathematics. Priest-teachers in the Chou period (1122-249 B.C.) who clung to the dying culture of Shang (1765-1122 B.C.), observed Shang rules of conduct, became specialists on social decorum and religious rites. --...

Judgment of Taste
The assertion that an object is beautiful, or aesthetically pleasing. Such propositions are traditionally classified as judgments of value, as distinguished from judgments of fact, and are regarded as making assertions about the subjective reaction and interest that the object has aroused, and not about any intrinsic property of the object. Hence,...

Judgment
(a) The mental act of asserting (affirming or denying) an assertible content. Traditionally a judgment is said to affirm or to deny a predicate of a subject. As generalized by modern logicians this becomes affirmation or denial of a relation (not necessarily that of predication) among certain terms (not necessarily two). One classification of judg...

Jung. C. G.
(1875-) Exponent of a type of psychoanalysis (see Psycho-analysis) known as 'analytic psychology', which has close affinities with Freudianism (see Freud, Sigmund) and with individual psychology (see Adler, Alfred). Jung employed Freud's methods of free association and dream analysis but emphasized his own method of word-association. He differed f...

Justin Martyr
(c. 100-160) A prominent Christian Apologist, who taught that Divine truth appears in two forms, first, in man's power of reasoning, and second, in special revelation expressed by philosophers, prophets, and especially Christ. Cf. Justin's Apologia. -- R.B.W.

Kala
(Skr.) Art-creation, authorship, e.g., as one of the aspects of Shiva's progressive world creation. See Kancuka. -- K.F.L.

Kala
(Skr.) Time, variously conceived in Indian philosophy. See e.g., Astikdya, Dravya, Kancuka. -- K.F.L.

Kalanos
(Grecized from Skr. kalyana) A Hindu philosopher who lived at the court of Alexander the Great while in India and finally mounted his own funeral pile. -- K.F.L.

Kalology
The study of the beauties of sensible objects and of character combined. (Montague.) -- H.H.

Kames, Henry Home
(1696-1782) He was a well known Scotch lawyer of his day who later became one of the lords of justiciary and sat as a judge in the court of session. He became entangled in a free will controversy after the publication of his 'Principles of Morality and Natural Religion.' His 'Elements of Criticism' is a widely known classic in the field of aesthet...

Kami
(Japanese) Originally denoting anything that inspires and overawes man with a sense of holiness, the word assumed a meaning in Japanese equivalent to spirit (also ancestral spirit), divinity, and God. It is a central concept in the pre-Confucian and pre-Buddhistic native religion which holds the sun supreme and still enjoys national support, while...

Kant-Laplace hypothesis
Theory of the origin of the solar system, formulated first by Kant (Natural History and Theory of the Heavens, 1755) and later by Laplace (Exposition of the System of the World, 1796). According to this theory the solar system evolved from a rotating mass of incandescent gas which by cooling and shrinking, and thus increasing its rate of spin, gra...

Kantianism
The philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804); also called variously, the critical philosophy, criticism, transcendentalism, or transcendental idealism. Its roots lay in the Enlightenment; but it sought to establish a comprehensive method and doctrine of experience which would undercut the rationalistic metaphysics of the 17th and 18th centuries. In...

Kapila
Founder of the Sankhya (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Karana
(Skr.) Cause; causa efficiens. -- K.F.L.

Karma, Karman
(Skr.) Action, movement, deed, a category e.g. in the Vaisesika (q.v.). In Indian philosophy generally thought of as a metaphysical entity carried by the individual along in samsara (q.v.). As law, karma would be identical with physical causation or causality while working with equal rigor in man's psychic and thought life. As such it is the unmit...

Karmakanda
(Skr., see Karma above) That portion of the Veda (q.v.) with which the priests are concerned. -- K.F.L.

Karmendriya
(Skr.) One of the five indriyas (q.v.) or powers of action, reactive or muscular senses, corresponding to the physiological capacities of expression or speech, seizing or handling, locomotion, excretion, and sexual activity. -- K.F.L.

Kathenotheism
A term invented by Max Müller which literally denotes one at a time -- theism. It symbolizes the Vedic monotheistic practice according to which the position of the gods is so arranged that each God is supreme in turn, in which the titular god is always changing without entailing a denial that the other gods exist. -- H.H.

Kempen, Thomas Hemerken van
(1380-1471) Also called Thomas a Kempis, was born at Kempen in Holland, received his early education and instruction in music at the monastery of the Brethren of the Common Life, at Deventer. He attended no university but attained a high degree of spiritual development. His Imitation of Christ is one of the most famous, and most used, books of Cat...

Kenotism
The doctrine of Kenosis; literally the Greek term Kenosis means an emptying. The doctrine arose from the discussion of Phil, ii, 7, where we read that Christ 'emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.' Some have interpreted the text in the sense that the Son of God in becoming man put aside some of His divine attributes, while others, notably...

Kevala
(Skr. alone) A predicate or synonym of the Absolute in its unitary, free, autonomous, all-inclusive and universal aspect. The condition or state of being absolute and independent is kevalatva, one who meditates on or has attained personal experience of it, is a kevalin. -- K.F.L.

Kierkegaard, Sören
(1813-1855) Danish religious thinker whose influence was largely limited to Scandinavian and German circles until recently. His works are now translated into English and his thought revived by contemporary social pessimists. Eternity, he held, is more important than time; sin is worse than suffering ; man is an egotist and must experience despair;...

Kind
(a) A class or collection of entities having a common character that differentiates members of this class from non-members, (b) J. S. Mill (System of Logic) limits the term to natural classes, such as biological species, where members have, in addition to the defining property, an unlimited number of other properties in common. -- C.A.B.

Kinesis
(Gr. kinesis) Motion; change. In Aristotle's philosophy three kinds of kinesis are distinguished: quantitative change, i.e. increase and diminution; change of quality; and change of place, or locomotion. Among the forms of kinesis Aristotle also sometimes reckons the two forms of substantial change, viz. generation, or coming-to-be, and destructi...

Knower, The
The subject of knowledge, conceived either as a mental act, an empirical self or a pure ego. See Subject. The knower in contrast to the object known. See Epistemological object. -- L.W.

Knowledge
(AS. cnawan, know) Relations known. Apprehended truth. Opposite of opinion. Certain knowledge is more than opinion, less than truth. Theory of knowledge, or epistemology (which see), is the systematic investigation and exposition of the principles of the possibility of knowledge. In epistemology: the relation between object and subject. See Episte...

Ko wu
Investigation of things. (Confucianism.) Investigation of the Reason (li) of things and affairs to the utmost. (Chu Hsi, 1130-1200.) 'Rectification' of things and affairs by the extension of one's intuitive knowledge so that what is not correct in things, and therefore evil, may be corrected and made good. (Wang Yang-ming, 1473-1529.) -- W.T.C.

Koffka, Kurt
(1896) Along with Wertheimer and Köhler, one of the original triumvirate of Gestalt psychologists. See Gestalt Psychology. Koffka, relying on the results of Köhler's study of learning in apes, has, in opposition to the current attempts to treat learning exclusively in terms of trial and error, emphasized the essential role of insight in ...

Koran
(Qoran) The name for the sacred book of the Mohammedans. Its contents consist largely of warnings, remonstrances, assertions, arguments in favor of certain doctrines, narratives for enforcing morals. It stresses the ideal of the day of judgment, and abounds in realistic description of both the pains of hell and the delights of paradise. As a colle...

Korn, Alejandro
Born in San Vicente, Buenos Aires in 1860. Died in Buenos Aires, 1936. Psychiatrist in charge of Melchor Romero Hospital for the Insane and Professor of Anatomy at the National College of La Plata. Professor of Ethics and Metaphysics in the Universities of Buenos Aires and La Plata, from 1906-1930, and one time Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy an...

Kosa
(Skr.) 'Sheath', one of the envelopes of the soul or self concealing its real nature, which is pure consciousness. The Vedanta knows three: the anandamaya, vijnanamaya, and annamaya koias, i.e., the sheaths of pleasure, intellect, and food, composing respectively the karana, suksma, and sthula larira, meaning the causal, subtile, and gross frame o...

Kratocracy
(Gr. krateros, strong) Government by those who are strong enough to seize power through force or cunning. (Montague.) -- H.H.

Krause, Karl Christian Friedrich
(1781-1832) Kant's younger contemporary, who attempted to formulate a speculative reconciliation of theism and pantheism, or 'panentheism'. Main works: Grundl. d. Naturrechts, 1803; System d. Sittenlehre, 1810; Das Urbild d. Menschheit, 1811; Vorles. u.d. Grundwahrheiten d. Wissenschaften, 1829. -- R.B.W.

Ksanika-vada
(Skr.) The Buddhistic theory (vada) asserting that everything exists only momentarily (ksanika), hence changes continually. -- K.F.L.

Ku
Cause, 'that with the obtaining of which a thing becomes.' 'A minor cause is that the obtaining of which a thing may not necessarily be so but without the obtaining of which a thing will never be so.' 'A major cause is that with the obtaining of which a thing is necessarily so but without the obtaining of which a thing is necessarily not so.' (Neo...

Kuei
Man's spirit after death; earthly spirits coexisting with heavenly spirits (shen); the passive or negative (yin) aspect of the soul as against the active or positive (yang) aspect which is called hun; the operation of the passive cosmic principle, yin, (in Neo-Confucian-ism), -- W.T.C.

Kulpe, Oswald
(1862-1915) Opposing idealistic Neo-Kantianism, he is the most typical pioneer of philosophical realism in Germany. He characterized the method of the sciences, himself a leading psychologist, as a procedure which he terms Realizierung. He affirms the existence of the real in sharp contrast to every conscientialism and objective idealism. He defen...

Kung
Accomplishment 'which is of benefit to the people.' (Mohism.) -- W.T.C.

Kung
Respect; courtesy; politeness; expression of reverence and seriousness (chin). Kung refers to expression, whereas chin refers to action. (Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism.) -- W.T.C.

Kuo Hsiang
(Kuo Tzu-hsuan, c. 312 A.D.) The outstanding Taoist in medieval China, wrote the standard commentary on Chuang Tzu based on the notes of his senior contemporary Hsiang Hsiu. -- W.T.C.

Lachelier, J.
(1831-1918) A French philosopher who, though he wrote little, exerted a considerable direct personal influence on his students at the Ecole Normale Superieure; he was the teacher of both E. Boutroux and H. Bergson. His philosophical position was a Kantian idealism modified by the French 'spiritualism' of Maine de Biran and Ravaisson. Main works: L...

Lamaism
(from Tibetan b La-ma, honorable title of a monk) The religious beliefs and institutions of Tibet, derived from Mahayana Buddhism (q.v.) which was first introduced in the 7th century by the chieftain Sron-tsan-gampo, superimposed on the native Shamaistic Bon religion, resuscitated and mixed with Tantric (q.v.) elements by the mythic Hindu Padmasam...

Lambert, J. H.
(1728-1777) Was one of Kant's correspondents. He was of the Leibniz-Wolffisn school which attempted an eclectic reconciliation between rationalism and empiricism and thus laid a foundation for the later Kantian critical philosophy. As such, he is viewed as an important forerunner of Kant. -- L.E.D L Lmbert is known also for important contributions...

Lamennais, R.
(1782-1854) Leader of a Platonic-Christian movement in the Catholic clergy of France. He advanced the idea of 'inspired mankind.' He attacked the eighteenth century for its principles and its method. In finding dissolution and destruction as its aftermath, he advocated a return to the Catholic Church as the solution. Main works: Paroles d'un croya...

Lamettrie, Julien Offroy de
(1709-1751) A French materialist and author of L'homme machine, in which he expresses his belief that the soul is a product of bodily growth; he maintains that the brain has its 'thought muscles' just as the leg has its 'walk muscles.' Main works: Histoire naturelle de l'ame, 1745; L'homme-machine, 1747; L'homme-plante, 1748; Discours sur le bonhe...

Lange, Friedrich Albert
(1828-1875) Celebrated for his History of Materialism, based upon a qualified Kantian point of view, he demonstrated the philosophical limitations of metaphysical materialism, and his appreciation of the value of materialism as a stimulus to critical thinking. He worked for a greater understanding of Kant's work and anticipated fictionalism. -- H....

Language of Science
See Scientific Empiricism II B 1.

Language, Functions of
Some utterances (a) are produced by a speaker, (b) induce effects in an interpreter, (c) are related to a certain subject-matter (which may, but in general will not, include either the speaker or interpreter). According as one or other of the relations in which the utterance stands to the several factors of such speech-situations is selected for a...

Language, Philosophy of
Any philosophical investigation arising from study of concrete, actualized, languages, whether 'living' or 'dead'. By 'language' is here to be understood a system of signs (whether words or ideograms) used in regular modes of combination, in accordance with conventionally established rules, for the purpose of communication. Philosophers have in th...

Lassalle, Ferdinand
(1825-1864) Was influenced in his thought by Fichte and Hegel but soon assumed a distinctly materialist position. His main interest and activity lay in the field of political and economic philosophy; he advocated, and worked for, the formation of trade unions in Germany and adhered to socialism. Main works: Die Philosophie Herakleitos d. Dunklen, ...

Latency
(Lat. latere, to be hidden) (a) In metaphysics, the term latency is equivalent to potency or potentiality. See Potentiality. (b) In epistemology and psychology, the term is applied to knowledge, e.g. memory, which lies dormant in the mind but is capable of becoming actual and explicit (see W. Hamilton, Lectures on Metaphysics, xviii, cited by J. M...

Latin-American Philosophy
Philosophy in Latin America may be divided into three periods. (1) The scholastic period begins with the Recognitio summularum of Alonso de la Veracruz (1554) and continues to the dawn of the nineteenth century. According to Ueberweg, the influence of Duns Scotus during this period was greater than that of Thomas Aquinas. (2) The predominantly nat...

Latitudinarianism
(1) A party in the Church of England (middle of the 17th century) aiming to reconcile contending parties by seeking a broad basis in common doctrines. (2) A term applied to a liberal opinion which allows diversity in unity. (3) A term used derisively as meaning indifference to religious doctrines. -- V.F.

Law of Population
In economics, the tendency of population to encroach upon the means of subsistence. First announced by Malthus (1766-1834), the Law asserts that the increase of unchecked population is in geometric ratio while the increase of the means of subsistence is in arithmetic ratio, so that population must always press upon the limits of the means of subsi...

Law, Chinese School of
See Fa chia and Chinese philosophy.

Law
(in Kant) 'Every formula which expresses the necessity of an action is called a law' (Kant). -- P. A.S.

Laws of thought
See Logic, traditional

Leading principle
The general statement of the validity of some particular form of valid inference (see Logic, formal) may be called its leading principle. Or the name may be applied to a proposition or sentence of logic corresponding to a certain form of valid inference. E.g., the law of exportation (q. v.) may be called the leading principle of the form of valid ...

Legal Philosophy
Deals with the philosophic principles of law and justice. The origin is to be found in ancient philosophy. The Greek Sophists criticized existing laws and customs by questioning their validity: All human rules are artificial, created by enactment or convention, as opposed to natural law, based on nature. The theory of a law of nature was further d...

Legalism, ethical
The insistence on a strict literal or overt observance of certain rules of conduct, or the belief that there are rules which must be so obeyed. Opposed on the one hand by the view which emphasizes the spirit over the letter of the law, and on the other by the view which emphasizes a consideration of the value of the consequences of actions and rul...

Lei
(a) Generic name. 'All similar substances necessarily bear the same name.' (Neo-Mohism) (b) Generic relationship or partial relationship. See Mo che. -- W.T.C.

Leibniz, Gottfried Withelm
(1646-1716) Born in Leipzig, where his father was a professor in the university, he was educated at Leipzig, Jena, and Altdorf University, where he obtained his doctorate. Jurist, mathematician, diplomat, historian, theologian of no mean proportions, he was Germany's greatest 17th century philosopher and one of the most universal minds of all time...

Lemma
(Gr. lemma) In Aristotle's logic a premiss of a syllogism. -- G.R.M. In mathematics, a theorem proved for the sake of its use in proving another theorem. The name is applied especially in cases where the lemma ceases to be of interest in itself after proof of the theorem for the sake of which it was introduced. -- A.C.

Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim
(1729-1781) German dramatist and critic. He is best known in the philosophic field for his treatise on the limitations of poetry and the plastic arts in the famous 'Laokoon.' In the drama, 'Nathan the Wise,' he has added to the world's literature a profound plea for religious toleration. -- L.E.D.