Narnia

Series of novels by C. S. Lewis set in the mythical land of Narnia. The series includes The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), Prince Caspian (1951), The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader' (1952), The Silver Chair (1953), The Horse and His Boy (1954), The Magician's Nephew (1955), The Last Battle (1956).

National Portrait Gallery

Collection, established in London in 1866, of portrait paintings and photographs of British men and women.

naturalism

A further development of Realism fueled by end-of-the-century pessimism. If  Realism holds a mirror up to nature and society, Naturalism examines them in a microscope, clinically and with detachment. While Realism has little or no philosophical intent, Naturalism usually presumes, and makes a case for, the philosophical position known as determinism.

natural selection

In Darwin's theory of evolution, the motive power that tends to eliminate from the evolution of species the weak (that is to say, maladapted) and to propagate the strong (that is to say, well-adapted), thus favoring "survival of the fittest."

"Nature"

1836 essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a key document in American transcendentalism.

Nature Philosophers

Those early 19th century thinkers who, following Schelling, sought to develop  a basically phenomenological approach to knowledge.

neologism

1 a new word or a new meaning for an established word 

2 the use of, or the practice of creating, new words or new meanings for established words [New World Dictionary].

Neo-Platonism (neoplatonism)

Developed by Plotinus, neo-Platonism, derived from the thought of Plato, conceived of nature as an emanation of God. Various versions of neo-Platonism kept Platonism alive throughout the Middle Ages.

"Ne Plus Ultra"

Poem by Coleridge, written around 1817.

Nereids

"The Nereids are the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris who dwell in the Mediterranean Sea. These beautiful women were always friendly and helpful towards sailors fighting perilous storms. They are believed to be able to prophesize. They belong to the retinue of Poseidon" [Encyclopedia Mythica].

New Age

The post-1960s counter-cultural embrace of a wide-variety--including Eastern and "occult'--of previously suspect mindsets, lifestyles, practices, and beliefs.

New Criticism

A largely American school of critical theory which directed special attention to the text itself.

Nicodemus

"A man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council" (John 3) who showed interest in Christ's teachings but did not become a disciple.

Nirvana

In Buddhist thought, the state of bliss, of perfect peace.

Nobodaddy

William Blake's "name for the false God of this world" (Damon, A Blake Dictionary (301): roughly equivalent to the vengeful deity of the Old Testament.

noncomformist

"[N]ame given to sectarian English Protestants who have refused to conform to the regulations governing ceremonies and doctrines of the Church of England" [Microsoft Encarta].

normal science

Thomas Kuhn's term (in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions) for scientific investigation conducted by normal scientists within the prevailing paradigm.

North Sea

That part of the Atlantic Ocean between the eastern coast of Great Britain and the continent of Europe.

noumenal

In Kant's philosophy, describes "things perceived as existing but only through a rational apprehension"; used in contrast to the "phenomenal," which describes that which is apprehended by the senses [Reese, Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion].