philosophy

English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From Middle English philosophie, Old French philosophie, and their source, Latin philosophia, from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía), from φίλος (phílos, “loving”) + σοφία (sophía, “wisdom”). By surface analysis, philo- +‎ -sophy. Displaced native Old English ūþwitegung.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /fɪˈlɒsəfi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fɪˈlɑsəfi/

• Audio (General American):

  (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, often attempting to provide explanations relating to general concepts such as existence and rationality.

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

   • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond‎^[1]:

     During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]

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).
   • 2012, Francesca Valensise, From Building Fabric to City Form: Reconstruction in Calabria at end of Eighteenth Century‎^[2], Gangemi Editore spa, →ISBN, page 8:

     As a matter of fact the Enlightment culture was based on a philosophy inspired to an ethical laicism whose aim was to create a better society based on principles such as solidarity, equality of rights and duties, and full freedom.

6. (archaic) A broader branch of (non-applied) science.
7. A calm and thoughtful demeanor; calmness of temper.
8. (printing, dated) Synonym of small pica (especially in French printing).
   • 2010, Thomas Wharton, Salamander, Emblem Editions, →ISBN:

     Although I prefer small pica. Or as its^[sic] sometimes known, philosophy.
     – Small pica, or philosophy, she said. It sounds like the title of a novel. With a girl heroine.

Meronyms

• See also Thesaurus:philosophy

Derived terms

• analytic philosophy
• antiphilosophy
• astrophilosophy
• biophilosophy
• continental philosophy
• counterphilosophy
• critical philosophy
• cyberphilosophy
• Doctor of Philosophy
• ecophilosophy
• ethnophilosophy
• foolosophy
• geophilosophy
• metaphilosophy
• moral philosophy
• natural philosophy
• nature philosophy
• neurophilosophy
• nonphilosophy
• ordinary language philosophy
• perennial philosophy
• personal philosophy
• philosophize
• philosophylike
• philosophy of mind
• philosophy of science
• physiophilosophy
• pseudophilosophy
• psychophilosophy
• religiophilosophy
• rosewater philosophy
• sociophilosophy
• speculative philosophy
• synthetic philosophy
• theophilosophy
• Unix philosophy

 

Related terms

• philologist
• philology
• philosopher
• philosophic
• philosophical
• philosophically
• philosophise
• philosophize

 

Translations

the pursuit of wisdom

• Kurdish: felsefe (ku)
• Afrikaans: filosofie (af)
• Amharic: ፍልስፍና (fəlsəfna)
• Belarusian: філасо́фія (be) (filasófija)
• Burmese: ဒဿနဗေဒ (da.ssa.na.beda.)
• Dutch: wijsbegeerte (nl) f, filosofie (nl) f
• Greek: φιλοσοφία (el) f (filosofía)

  Ancient: φιλοσοφία f (philosophía)

• Japanese: 悟り (ja) (さとり, satori)
• Latvian: filozofija f
• Macedonian: мудрување n (mudruvanje)
• Old English: ūþwitegung f
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd f
• Ukrainian: філосо́фія (uk) f (filosófija)

academic discipline

• Afrikaans: filosofie (af)
• Amharic: ፍልስፍና (fəlsəfna)
• Arabic: لْسَفَة f (lsafa)

  Egyptian Arabic: فلسفة f (falsafa)

  Hijazi Arabic: فَلْسَفة f (falsafa)

• Armenian: փիլիսոփայություն (hy) (pʻilisopʻayutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: fəlsəfə (az)
• Balinese: ᬢᬢ᭄ᬢ᭄ᬯ (tattwa)
• Basque: filosofia
• Belarusian: філасо́фія (be) f (filasófija)
• Bulgarian: филосо́фия (bg) f (filosófija)
• Burmese: ဒဿနဗေဒ (da.ssa.na.beda.), သဘာဝတ္ထဗေဒ (my) (sa.bhawathta.beda.)
• Catalan: filosofia (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 哲學／哲学 (zit³ hok⁶)

  Mandarin: 哲学 (zh) (zhéxué)

• Cornish: filosofieth f
• Czech: filozofie (cs) f, filosofie (cs) f
• Danish: filosofi (da) c
• Dutch: filosofie (nl) f, wijsbegeerte (nl) f
• Esperanto: filozofio (eo)
• Faroese: heimspeki f
• Finnish: filosofia (fi)
• French: philosophie (fr) f
• Galician: filosofía (gl) f
• Georgian: ფილოსოფია (pilosopia)
• German: Philosophie (de) f
• Greek: φιλοσοφία (el) f (filosofía)

  Ancient: φιλοσοφία f (philosophía)

• Hindi: दर्शन (hi) m (darśan), फ़लसफ़ा m (falasfā), तत्व (hi) m (tatva)
• Hungarian: filozófia (hu), bölcselet (hu)
• Icelandic: heimspeki (is) n
• Ido: filozofio (io)
• Indonesian: filsafat (id), falsafah (id)
• Interlingua: philosophia (ia)
• Irish: fealsúnacht f
• Italian: filosofia (it) f
• Japanese: 哲学 (ja) (てつがく, tetsugaku)
• Kannada: ತತ್ತ್ವಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ (kn) (tattvaśāstra)
• Kazakh: пәлсапа (pälsapa), фәлсафа (fälsafa), философия (kk) (filosofiä), даналықтану (danalyqtanu)
• Khmer: ទស្សនវិជ្ជា (km) (tʊəhsana vɨcchie)
• Korean: 철학(哲學) (ko) (cheolhak)
• Kyrgyz: философия (ky) (filosofiya)
• Latin: philosophia (la) f
• Latvian: filozofija f
• Lithuanian: filosofija (lt) m
• Macedonian: философија f (filosofija), филозофија f (filozofija)
• Malay: falsafah (ms)
• Maori: whakaaromōhio
• Mongolian: философи (filosofi)
• Muong: tliết học
• Nepali: दर्शन (darsan)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: filosofi (no) m

  Nynorsk: filosofi m

• Occitan: filosofia (oc) f
• Old English: ūþwitegung f
• Persian: فلسفه (fa) (falsafe), خرددوستی (xeraddusti)
• Polish: filozofia (pl) f
• Portuguese: filosofia (pt) f
• Romanian: filozofie (ro) f
• Russian: филосо́фия (ru) f (filosófija)
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија f

  Roman: filozofija (sh) f

• Sicilian: filusufìa (scn) f
• Slovak: filozofia f
• Spanish: filosofía (es) f
• Swahili: falsafa (sw) class 9
• Swedish: filosofi (sv) c
• Tagalog: pilosopiya, batnayan
• Tajik: фалсафа (tg) (falsafa)
• Tamil: மெய்யியல் (ta) (meyyiyal), தத்துவம் (ta) (tattuvam)
• Thai: ปรัชญา (th) (bpràt-yaa)
• Turkish: felsefe (tr)
• Ukrainian: філосо́фія (uk) f (filosófija)
• Urdu: فلسفہ
• Uyghur: پەلسەپە (pelsepe)
• Vietnamese: triết học (vi) (哲學)
• Volapük: filosop (vo)
• West Frisian: wiisbegearte
• Yiddish: פֿילאָסאָפֿיע f (filosofye)

comprehensive system of belief

• Afrikaans: filosofie (af)
• Amharic: ፍልስፍና (fəlsəfna)
• Arabic: فَلْسَفَة f (falsafa), مَذْهَب (ar) m (maḏhab)
• Armenian: փիլիսոփայություն (hy) (pʻilisopʻayutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: fəlsəfə (az)
• Bulgarian: философия (bg) f (filosofija)
• Catalan: filosofia (ca)
• Czech: filozofie (cs) f
• Dutch: filosofie (nl) f
• Esperanto: filozofio (eo)
• Finnish: filosofia (fi)
• Galician: filosofía (gl) f
• Greek: φιλοσοφία (el) f (filosofía)
• Hindi: फ़लसफ़ा m (falasfā), मज़हब m (mazhab), मजहब (hi) m (majhab), दर्शन (hi) m (darśan)
• Hungarian: filozófia (hu), eszmerendszer (hu), életfilozófia (hu), életszemlélet (hu), életfelfogás (hu)
• Japanese: 哲学 (ja) (てつがく, tetsugaku)
• Latvian: filozofija f
• Macedonian: философија f (filosofija), филозофија f (filozofija)
• Polish: filozofia (pl) f
• Portuguese: filosofia (pt) f
• Romanian: filozofie (ro) f
• Russian: филосо́фия (ru) f (filosófija)
• Sanskrit: दर्शन (sa) n (darśana)
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија f

  Roman: filozofija (sh) f

• Sicilian: filusufìa (scn) f
• Swedish: filosofi (sv) c
• Ukrainian: філосо́фія (uk) f (filosófija)
• Welsh: athroniaeth (cy)
• West Frisian: filosofy c

view regarding fundamental principles

• Afrikaans: filosofie (af)
• Amharic: ፍልስፍና (fəlsəfna)
• Arabic: مَذْهَب (ar) m (maḏhab), عَقِيدَة (ar) f (ʕaqīda)
• Armenian: փիլիսոփայություն (hy) (pʻilisopʻayutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: fəlsəfə (az)
• Bulgarian: философия (bg) f (filosofija)
• Catalan: filosofia (ca)
• Dutch: filosofie (nl) f
• Finnish: filosofia (fi)
• Galician: filosofía (gl) f
• Greek: φιλοσοφία (el) f (filosofía)
• Hindi: मज़हब m (mazhab), मजहब (hi) m (majhab), अकीदा (hi) f (akīdā)
• Hungarian: filozófia (hu), elmélet (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)
• Latvian: filozofija f
• Macedonian: философија f (filosofija), филозофија f (filozofija)
• Polish: filozofia (pl) f
• Portuguese: filosofia (pt) f
• Romanian: filozofie (ro) f
• Russian: филосо́фия (ru) f (filosófija)
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија f

  Roman: filozofija (sh) f

• Sicilian: filusufìa (scn) f
• Swedish: filosofi (sv) c

general principle

• Afrikaans: filosofie (af)
• Amharic: ፍልስፍና (fəlsəfna)
• Arabic: مَبْدَأ m (mabdaʔ), مَذْهَب (ar) m (maḏhab)
• Armenian: փիլիսոփայություն (hy) (pʻilisopʻayutʻyun)
• Catalan: filosofia (ca)
• Dutch: filosofie (nl) f
• Finnish: filosofia (fi), periaate (fi)
• Galician: filosofía (gl) f
• Hindi: मज़हब m (mazhab), मजहब (hi) m (majhab)
• Hungarian: filozófia (hu), elv (hu), alapelv (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)
• Latvian: filozofija f
• Macedonian: философија f (filosofija), филозофија f (filozofija)
• Polish: filozofia (pl) f
• Portuguese: filosofia (pt) f
• Romanian: filozofie (ro) f
• Scottish Gaelic: feallsanachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: филозофија f

  Roman: filozofija (sh) f

• Sicilian: filusufìa (scn) f
• Swedish: filosofi (sv) c
• Welsh: athroniaeth (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} filosoofia (et)
• French: ^{(please verify)} philosophie (fr)
• German: ^{(please verify)} Philosophie (de) f
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} heimspeki (is)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} filosofia (it) f
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} filosofija (lt) f
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} filosofija f
• Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 哲学 (zh) (zhéxué)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} filosofie f, ^{(please verify)} filozofie (ro) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} филозофија f

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} filozofija (sh) f

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} filozofija (sh) f
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} filosofía (es) f
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} తత్వం (tatvaṁ), ^{(please verify)} తాత్వికత (tātvikata) h(taatvikata)

Verb

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

1. (now rare) To philosophize.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     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

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “philosophy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “philosophy”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Further reading

• "philosophy" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 235.