Maritain \ma-re-'ta n \, Jacques (b. Nov. 18, 1882, Paris, France—d. April 28, 1973, Toulouse) French philosopher. Reared a Protestant, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1906. His thought, which is based on Aristotelianism and Thomism, incorporates ideas of other Classical and modern philosophers and draws upon anthropology, sociology, and psy¬
chology. Among the dominant themes in his work are: that science, phi¬ losophy, poetry, and mysticism are among many legitimate ways of knowing reality; that the individual person transcends the political com¬ munity; that natural law expresses not only what is natural in the world but also what is known naturally by human beings; that moral philoso¬ phy must take into account other branches of human knowledge; and that people holding different beliefs must cooperate in the formation and main¬ tenance of salutary political institutions. Among his major works are Art and Scholasticism (1920), The Degrees of Knowledge (1932), Art and Poetry (1935), Man and the State (1951), and Moral Philosophy (1960).
maritime law or admiralty law or admiralty Body of legal rules that governs ships and shipping. One early compilation of maritime regulations is the 6th-century Digest of Justinian. Roman maritime law and the 13th-century Consolat de Mar (“Consulate of the Sea”) both brought temporary uniformity of maritime law to the Mediterranean, but nationalism led many countries to develop their own maritime codes. Maritime law deals mainly with the eventualities of loss of a ship (e.g., through collision) or cargo, with insurance and liability relating to those eventualities, and with collision compensation and salvage rights. There has been an increasing tendency to make maritime laws uniform; the chief organization overseeing maritime law is the International Maritime Com¬ mittee, composed of the maritime law associations of several countries.
Maritime Provinces Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. They are located on the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. With Newfoundland and Labrador they form the Atlantic Provinces. The name Acadia was applied to much of the region during French colonial rule, until it was ceded to the British in
Maritsa \m9-'ret-s3\ River Greek Evros Vev-,r6s\ Turkish Meric \me-'rech\ River, southeastern Europe. Rising southeast of Sofia, Bulg., it flows east and southeast across Bulgaria, briefly forms the Bulgaria- Greece border, and then runs along the Greece-Turkey border. At Edime it changes direction, flowing southwest to enter the Aegean Sea after a course of about 300 mi (480 km).
Marius Vmar-e-osV Gaius (b. c. 157, Cereatae, near Arpinum, Latium—d. Jan. 13, 86 bc, Rome) General and consul who redesigned the Roman army. He secured command of the army in Africa (107) and solved the chronic manpower shortage by enlisting landless citizens for the first time. He defeated Jugurtha in 106. At Rome he held unconstitutional suc¬ cessive consulships (104-100) while it was threatened by the Cimbri and the Teutones, whom he fought and defeated. He held a command during the Social War and was awarded another in 88 to replace Sulla as Asian commander and confront Mithradates. When an outraged Sulla marched on Rome, Marius fled for his life. He returned forcibly in 87, was elected consul for the seventh time, and ruthlessly murdered his opponents.
Marivaux \ma-re-'v6\, Pierre (Carlet de Chamblain de) (b.
Feb. 4, 1688, Paris, France—d. Feb. 12, 1763, Paris) French playwright. Born into an aristocratic family, he joined Paris salon society, which he described in his journalistic writings. The loss of his fortune in 1720 and the death of his young wife a few years later prompted him to embark on a serious literary career. He wrote his first plays, including the tragedy Annibal (1720), for the Comedie-Francaise, but he preferred to write for the Italian commedia dell'arte theatre in Paris, for which he produced Har¬ lequin Brightened by Love (1723) and The Game of Love and Chance (1730). His nuanced feeling and clever wordplay became known as marivaudage. He also wrote the satirical plays Isle of Slaves (1725), Isle of Reason (1727), and The New Colony (1729).
marjoram or sweet marjoram Vmar-jo-romX Perennial herb (.Majorana hortensis) of the mint family, or its fresh or dried leaves and flowering tops. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, marjoram is cultivated as an annual where winter temperatures kill the plant. It is used to flavor many foods. Various other aromatic herbs or undershrubs of the genera Origanum (see oregano) and Majorana of the mint family are also called marjoram.
Mark (the Evangelist), Saint (fl. 1st century, Jerusalem—d. tradi¬ tionally Alexandria, Egypt; Western feast day April 25; Eastern feast day September 23) Christian evangelist to whom the second Gospel is tradi¬ tionally ascribed. He joined Saints Paul and Barnabas on their first mis¬ sionary journey but left them at Perga and returned to Jerusalem. He may also have aided St. Peter in Rome, and some scholars believe that Mark’s
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Gospel is based on Peter’s account of his experiences as one of the Twelve Apostles. If this is true, it was probably written shortly after Peter’s death c. ad 65. The Egyptian church claims Mark as its founder, and he is patron saint of the Italian cities of Aquileia and Venice. His symbol is the lion.
Mark Antony See Mark Antony
market Means by which buyers and sellers are brought into contact with each other and goods and services are exchanged. The term originally referred to a place where products were bought and sold; today a market is any arena, however abstract or far-reaching, in which buyers and sell¬ ers make transactions. The commodity exchanges in London and New York, for example, are international markets in which dealers communicate by telephone and computer links as well as through direct contact. Markets trade not only in tangible commodities such as grain and livestock but also in financial instruments such as securities and currencies. Classical economists developed the theory of perfect competition, in which they imagined free markets as places where large numbers of buyers and sell¬ ers communicated easily with each other and traded in commodities that were readily transferable; prices in such markets were determined only by supply and demand. Since the 1930s, economists have focused more often on the theory of imperfect competition, in which supply and demand are not the only factors that influence the operations of the market. In imperfect competition the number of sellers or buyers is limited, rival products are differentiated (by design, quality, brand name, etc.), and various obstacles hinder new producers’ entry into the market.
market research Study of the requirements of specific markets, the acceptability of products, and methods of developing and exploiting new markets. Various strategies are used for market research: past sales may be projected forward; surveys may be made of consumer attitudes and product preferences; and new or altered products may be introduced experimentally into designated test-market areas. Formal market research dates back to the 1920s in Germany and the 1930s in Sweden and France. After World War II, U.S. firms led in the use and refinement of market- research techniques, which spread throughout much of Western Europe and Japan.