philosophy

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• philosophie (obsolete)
• phylosophie (obsolete)
• phylosophy (nonstandard)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman philosophie, Old French philosophie, and their source, Latin philosophia, from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία, from φίλος (philos, “beloved”) + σοφία (sophia, “wisdom”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /fɪˈlɒsəfi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

philosophy (countable and uncountable; plural philosophies)

1. (uncountable, originally) The love of wisdom.
2. (uncountable) An academic discipline that seeks truth through reasoning rather than empiricism.

   Philosophy is often divided into five major branches: logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics.

3. (countable) A comprehensive system of belief.
4. (countable) A view or outlook regarding fundamental principles underlying some domain.

   a philosophy of government

   a philosophy of education

5. (countable) A general principle (usually moral).
6. (archaic) A broader branch of (non-applied) science.

Meronyms

• See also Wikisaurus:philosophy

Derived terms

• analytic philosophy
• antiphilosophy
• continental philosophy
• personal philosophy
• philosophize
• philosophy of mind

Related terms

• philology
• philosopher
• philosophic
• philosophical
• philosophically

Translations

the pursuit of wisdom

• Dutch: wijsbegeerte (nl) f
• Japanese: 悟り (ja) (さとり, satori)

• Macedonian: мудрување (mk) (mudrúvanje) n
• Old English: ūþwitigung (ang) f
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd (gd) f

academic discipline

• Arabic: فلسفة (fálsafa) f
• Armenian: փիլիսոփայություն (hy) (p’ilisop’ayut’yun)
• Basque: filosofia (eu)
• Bulgarian: философия (bg) (filosofija) (filosofiya)
• Catalan: filosofia
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哲学 (zhéxué)

• Czech: filozofie (cs) f, filosofie (cs) f
• Danish: filosofi (da) c
• Dutch: filosofie (nl) f, wijsbegeerte (nl) f
• Esperanto: filozofio
• Finnish: filosofia (fi)
• French: philosophie (fr) f
• Galician: filosofía (gl) f
• German: Philosophie (de) f
• Greek: φιλοσοφία (el) (philosophia) f
• Hindi: दर्शन (hi) (darśan) m
• Hungarian: filozófia (hu)
• Ido: filozofio (io)
• Indonesian: filsafat (id)
• Interlingua: philosophia (ia)
• Italian: filosofia (it) f
• Japanese: 哲学 (ja) (てつがく, tetsugaku)

• Khmer: ទស្សនវិជ្ជា (km) (tʊəhsana vɨcchie)
• Korean: 철학 (cheolhak)
• Latin: philosophia (la) f
• Macedonian: философија (mk) (filosófija) f, филозофија (mk) (filozófija) f
• Malay: falsafah (ms)
• Maori: whakaaromōhio (mi)
• Old English: ūþwitigung (ang) f
• Polish: filozofia (pl) f
• Portuguese: filosofia (pt) f
• Romanian: filozofie (ro) f
• Russian: философия (ru) (filosófija) f
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија (sh) f

  Roman: filozofija (sh) f

• Spanish: filosofía (es) f
• Swedish: filosofi (sv) c
• Tagalog: pilosopya (tl)
• Tajik: фалсафа (tg) (falsafa)
• Thai: ปรัชญา (th) (bpràtyaa)
• Volapük: filosop (vo)
• West Frisian: wiisbegearte (fy)

comprehensive system of belief

• Arabic: فلسفة (fálsafa) f, مذهب (máðhab) m
• Armenian: փիլիսոփայություն (hy) (p’ilisop’ayut’yun)
• Catalan: filosofia
• Czech: filozofie (cs) f
• Dutch: filosofie (nl) f
• Esperanto: filozofio
• Finnish: filosofia (fi)
• Galician: filosofía (gl) f
• Hungarian: filozófia (hu)
• Japanese: 哲学 (ja) (てつがく, tetsugaku)

• Macedonian: философија (mk) (filosófija) f, филозофија (mk) (filozófija) f
• Romanian: filozofie (ro) f
• Russian: философия (ru) (filosófija) f
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија (sh) f

  Roman: filozofija (sh) f

• Swedish: filosofi (sv) c
• West Frisian: filosofy (fy) c

view regarding fundamental principles

• Arabic: مذهب (máðhab) m, عقيدة (ʕaqīda) f
• Armenian: փիլիսոփայություն (hy) (p’ilisop’ayut’yun)
• Catalan: filosofia
• Dutch: filosofie (nl) f
• Finnish: filosofia (fi)
• Galician: filosofía (gl) f
• Hungarian: filozófia (hu)
• Japanese: 方針 (ja) (ほうしん, hōshin), 方向 (ja) (ほうこう, hōkō), , 主義 (ja) (しゅぎ, shugi); (figuratively) 哲学 (ja) (てつがく, tetsugaku)

• Macedonian: философија (mk) (filosófija) f, филозофија (mk) (filozófija) f
• Romanian: filozofie (ro) f
• Russian: философия (ru) (filosófija) f
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија (sh) f

  Roman: filozofija (sh) f

• Swedish: filosofi (sv) c

general principle

• Arabic: مبدأ (mábda’) m, مذهب (máðhab) m
• Armenian: փիլիսոփայություն (hy) (p’ilisop’ayut’yun)
• Catalan: filosofia
• Dutch: filosofie (nl) f
• Finnish: filosofia (fi), periaate (fi)
• Galician: filosofía (gl) f
• Hungarian: filozófia (hu)
• Japanese: 方針 (ja) (ほうしん, hōshin), 方向 (ja) (ほうこう, hōkō), , 主義 (ja) (しゅぎ, shugi); (figuratively) 哲学 (ja) (てつがく, tetsugaku)

• Macedonian: философија (mk) (filosófija) f, филозофија (mk) (filozófija) f
• Romanian: filozofie (ro) f
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија (sh) f

  Roman: filozofija (sh) f

• Swedish: filosofi (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: filosofia f
• Serbo-Croatian: filozofija f
• Mandarin: 哲学 (zhéxué)
• Estonian: filosoofia
• French: philosophie
• German: Philosophie f
• Greek: φιλοσοφία (filosofía) f ^(1,2,3,4), κοσμοθεωρία (kozmotheoria) f ⁽²⁾
• Icelandic: heimspeki

• Lithuanian: filosofija f
• Maltese: filosofija f
• Portuguese: filosofia f
• Romanian: filosofie/filozofie f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија f

  Roman: filozofija f

• Spanish: filosofía f
• Telugu: తత్వం (tatvaM), తాత్వికత h(taatvikata)
• Ukrainian: філософія (filosofija) f

Verb

philosophy (third-person singular simple present philosophies, present participle philosophying, simple past and past participle philosophied)

1. (now rare) To philosophize.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.12:

     Plato hath (in my seeming) loved this manner of Philosophying, Dialogue wise in good earnest, that therby he might more decently place in sundry mouthes the diversity and variation of his owne conceits.

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of philosophical isms
• ideology