Philopoemen \ 1 fi-l3-'pe-m9n\ (b. c. 253, Megalopolis, Arcadia—d. 182 bc, Messene, Messenia) General of the Achaean League. Elected federal cavalry commander (c. 210) and general of the league (208-207, 206- 205, 201-200), he won victories against the Aetolians and the Spartans, using Macedonian armour and tactics. In his fourth generalship (193-192) he failed against the Spartans by sea but crushed their army on land. The Roman Flamininus stopped his capture of Sparta, but when the Spartan leader was assassinated Philopoemen added that state to the confedera¬ tion. He was captured when Messene rebelled and given poison.
philosophe \ 1 fe-b- , z6f\ Any of the literary men, scientists, and think¬ ers of 18th-century France who were united, in spite of divergent per¬ sonal views, in their conviction of the supremacy and efficacy of human reason. Inspired by the philosophy of Rene Descartes, the skepticism of the libertines (or freethinkers), and the popularization of science by Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757), they were dedicated to the advancement of science and secular thought and to the open-mindedness of the Enlight¬ enment. They included Voltaire, Montesquieu, Denis Diderot, Jean Le Rond d’ Alembert, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The philosophes compiled the Encyclopedie, one of the great intellectual achievements of the century.
philosophical anthropology Study of human nature conducted by the methods of philosophy. It is concerned with questions such as the sta¬ tus of human beings in the universe, the purpose or meaning of human life, and whether humanity can be made an object of systematic study. Among the most important works in philosophical anthropology are Man’s Place in the Universe (1928), by Max Scheler; The Levels of the Organic and Man (1928), by Helmuth Plessner; Being and Time (1929), by Martin Heidegger; DerMensch (1940), by Arnold Gehlen; and An Essay on Man (1944), by Ernst Cassirer.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1490 I philosophy ► Phoenix Islands
philosophy Critical examination of the rational grounds of our most fundamental beliefs and logical analysis of the basic concepts employed in the expression of such beliefs. Philosophy may also be defined as reflection on the varieties of human experience, or as the rational, methodical, and systematic consideration of the topics that are of great¬ est concern to humanity. Philosophical inquiry is a central element in the intellectual history of many civilizations. Difficulty in achieving a con¬ sensus about the definition of the discipline partly reflects the fact that philosophers have frequently come to it from different fields and have preferred to reflect on different areas of experience. All the world’s great religions have produced significant allied philosophical schools. Western philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas, George Berkeley, and Soren Kierkeg¬ aard regarded philosophy as a means of defending religion and dispelling the antireligious errors of materialism and rationalism. Pythagoras, Rene Descartes, and Bertrand Russell, among others, were primarily mathema¬ ticians whose views of reality and knowledge were influenced by math¬ ematics. Figures such as Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Stuart Mill were mainly concerned with political philosophy, whereas Socrates and Plato were occupied chiefly by questions in ethics. The Pre- Socratics, Francis Bacon, and Alfred North Whitehead, among many oth¬ ers, started from an interest in the physical composition of the natural world. Other philosophical fields include aesthetics, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophical anthropology. See also
ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY; CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY; FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY; philosophy Of SCIENCE.
phlebitis \fli- , bi-tas\ Inflammation of the wall of a vein. Causes include nearby infection, trauma, surgery, and childbirth. The area over the vein is painful, swollen, red, and hot. A tender, cordlike mass may be felt under the skin. It usually occurs in surface veins in the lower leg and can be treated with pain relievers and bed rest, with mild exercise after inflam¬ mation subsides. Phlebitis can last for years; in such cases, irritation of the vein’s inner lining leads to blood-clot formation, a condition known as thrombophlebitis (see thrombosis). In deeper veins, this requires anti¬ coagulants to prevent embolisms.
phloem \'flo-,em\ or bast Plant tissues that conduct foods made in the leaves to all other parts of the plant. Phloem is composed of several types of specialized cells, including sieve-tube cells and phloem fibers. Sieve tubes (columns of sieve-tube cells), which have perforated areas in their walls, provide the main channels in which food substances travel. Phloem fibers are long, flexible cells that make up the soft fibers used commer¬ cially (e.g., flax and hemp).
phlox Any of about 65 species of plants (genus Phlox), belonging to the family Polemoniaceae, admired both in gardens and in the wilds for their clustered heads of flowers. All spe¬ cies but one are native to North America. Phlox is herbaceous, usu¬ ally with oval or linear leaves; it has heads of massed tubular flowers with five flaring lobes. A few species are woody, but most are herbaceous annuals or perennials. Sizes range from the 5-ft-high (1.5-m) summer phlox ( P paniculata) to the 18-in.- high (45-cm) woodland perennial blue phlox ( P divaricata) to the low- creeping, freely branching, ever¬ green moss pink, or creeping phlox (P. subulata).
Phnom Penh \p9-'n6m-'pen\ City (pop., 1999 est.: 938,000), capital of Cambodia, at the junction of the Sab River (a tributary of the Tonle Sap) with the Mekong River. Founded in 1434 as the capital of the Khmer king¬ dom, it was abandoned several times before being reestablished in 1865. It was a cultural centre, with many institutions of higher learning. When the Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia in 1975, they forced the city’s population into the countryside to work in the fields. The city was repopulated beginning in 1979, and its educational institutions began a difficult period of recovery from the virtual extermination of Cambodia’s educated class. Although the city is 180 mi (290 km) from the sea, it is a major port of the Mekong River valley; it is linked to the South China Sea via a channel of the Mekong delta in Vietnam.
phobia Extreme and irrational fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. A phobia is classified as a type of anxiety disorder (a neurosis), since anxiety is its chief symptom. Phobias are generally believed to result when fear produced by an original threatening situation (such as a near¬ drowning in childhood) is transferred to other similar situations (such as encounters with bodies of water), the original fear often being repressed or forgotten. Behaviour therapy can be helpful in overcoming phobias, the pho¬ bic person being gradually exposed to the anxiety-provoking object or situ¬ ation in a way that demonstrates that no threat really exists.
Phocaea \fo-'se-o\ Ancient city on the Aegean Sea, northernmost of the Ionian cities on the western coast of Asia Minor (now the Gulf of Izmir, Turkey). An important maritime state c. 1000-550 bc, it founded a num¬ ber of colonies, including Massilia (Marseille) in the western Mediterra¬ nean. It declined after the Persian conquest c. 545 bc. The modem town of Foga is located in an olive- and tobacco-growing region and attracts tourists to the ancient city’s ruins.
Phocis \'fo-sis\ Ancient territory, central Greece. It extended north from the Gulf of Corinth over the range of Mount Parnassus to the Locrian Mountains, which formed the northern frontier. Its chief towns were Elateia, Delphi, and Daulis. Mainly a pastoral region, its early history is obscure. Traditionally, the Phocians controlled the sanctuary and oracle at Delphi, but they lost control after a war with neighbouring Greek states c. 590 bc. Phocis was allied with Sparta in the Peloponnesian War (431- 404 bc) and was conquered by Philip II of Macedon in 346 bc.