Philosophy is a field of study that includes diverse subfields such as aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics, in which people ask questions such as whether God exists, what is the nature of reality, whether knowledge is possible, and what makes actions right or wrong. The fundamental method of philosophy is the use of reasoning to evaluate arguments concerning these questions. However, the exact scope and methodology of philosophy is not rigid. What counts as philosophy is itself debated, and it varies across philosophical traditions.

The term philosophy comes from the Greek word "Φιλοσοφία" (philo-sophia), which means "love of wisdom" or less commonly "friend of wisdom". Many ancient Greek philosophers made the distinction between the desire for wisdom, as opposed to the desire for material things, vices, and the satisfaction of bodily desires. The definition of wisdom for many ancient Greeks would have been about virtue and the desire for knowledge and not false opinions. However, the term is notoriously difficult to define today (see definition of philosophy) because of the diverse range of ideas that have been labeled as philosophy. The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy defines it as the study of "the most fundamental and general concepts and principles involved in thought, action, and reality". The Penguin Encyclopedia says that philosophy differs from science in that philosophy's questions cannot be answered empirically, and from religion in that philosophy allows no place for faith or revelation. However, these points are called into question by the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, which states: "the late 20th-century... prefers to see philosophical reflection as continuous with the best practice of any field of intellectual enquiry." Indeed, many of the speculations of early philosophers in the field of natural philosophy eventually formed the basis for modern scientific explanations on a variety of subjects.

Informally, a "philosophy" may refer to a general world view or to a specific ethic or belief.

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Beautiful posts! Alain de Botton is one of my favorite modern philosophers. http://theschooloflife.typepad.com/ :)
desireegrace (Desiree Grace Tan) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:41:18 -0000
Beautiful posts! Alain de Botton is one of my favorite modern philosophers. http://theschooloflife.typepad.com/ :)
NOSOA-City Planners (Elected officials, Bureaucrats, Investors, Urbanists, Architects, Engineers, Philosophers and more) built cities.
denisrouimette (Denis R. Ouimette) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:38:50 -0000
NOSOA-City Planners (Elected officials, Bureaucrats, Investors, Urbanists, Architects, Engineers, Philosophers and more) built cities.
D.C. nightclub shut down, car overturns in Rock Creek, middle school philosophers, it's your Monday local news roundup: http://bit.ly/60EOkn
postmetro (postmetro) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:26:55 -0000
D.C. nightclub shut down, car overturns in Rock Creek, middle school philosophers, it's your Monday local news roundup: http://bit.ly/60EOkn
"There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers." - William James
craquemonkey (craquemonkey) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:21:37 -0000
"There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers." - William James
There are now-a-days professors of philosophy but not philosophers. *Henry David Thoreau
josephbrady (Joseph Brady) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:12:02 -0000
There are now-a-days professors of philosophy but not philosophers. *Henry David Thoreau
There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers. - William James
Murdats (Mitchell) Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:01:03 -0000
There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers. - William James

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