philosophia perennis

English

Etymology

From Latin philosophia (“philosophy”) + perennis (“perennial”).

Noun

philosophia perennis (uncountable)

1. (philosophy) A supposed essential core of philosophical beliefs epitomized in various writers from different temporal and geographic zones.

   Synonym: perennial philosophy

   • 1997, William W Quinn, The Only Tradition, New York, page 81:

     But what we are able to conclude about the meaning of the philosophia perennis in modern philosophy, based on the writings of the various philosophers mentioned here, is at once limited and tenuous.