LECTURE 1
DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
1.1 Introduction
In this first lesson, we introduce you to the meaning of the term “philosophy” beginning with an
etymological definition followed by other definitions.
1.2 Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
a) Define Philosophy
1.3 Definition of Philosophy
The term ‘philosophy’ is derived from a combination of two Greek words, these are: philia meaning love
and Sophia meaning wisdom. Simply put, philosophy means “love of wisdom”. One can therefore define
philosophy as the “love of wisdom”
According to Socrates (467-399 B.C.), the love of wisdom entails the pursuit of the truth and nothing
but objective truth. As for Plato (427-347 B.C.), it is gaining the vision of absolute ideas-one must be
able to discover what the character of universal reality is. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) reinforces this view
when he stated that philosophy is the investigation of all things, considering logical rules in the
determination of the true nature of reality.
Therefore, philosophy means being in the habit of seeking to be wise about the human experience.
Limitations of this original and broad usage of the term philosophy
i. It is not clear what philosophy is today given that it has relinquished the task of acquisition of
factual knowledge to natural and behavioral sciences that have developed and moved out of it.
ii. The relevance of philosophy is not clear: whether wisdom is pursued for the sake of it or it has
practical bearing on lives of people.
, 1.4 Philosophy as an Evaluation of Concepts, Beliefs about Human Experience
Suppose we take a common experience such as happiness. To a person for example John, happiness is
achieved through possession of money and property. To a philosopher, this claim will not be taken by
its face value. A philosopher will want to be wise and will for example ask if there exist persons who
have money and property yet are unhappy. He will ask whether happiness is equal to property and
money. A philosopher will raise both actual and logical questions like: what is money? What is property?
What is happiness? Is happiness possible through something else rather than money? In this way,
philosophy may be defined as an evaluation of our concepts and judgements of reality, knowledge and
beliefs that form part of human experience
Limitations of this definition include:
i. It does not distinguish philosophy from many vague, confused, and superficial beliefs.
ii. It neither distinguishes between popular (general) and professional neither sense of philosophy.
iii. It does not describe the worker/task of a philosopher.
1.5 Philosophy as a body of Concepts and as an Activity
As for this definition, “philosophy” refers to: (i) A body of concepts or theories and (ii) An activity. By
a body of concepts, we mean the work of philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. As an activity,
it is the deliberate critical examination, evaluation and discussion of judgements, policies, rules, theories,
and standards. It is a way of thinking about reality.
Limitations to this definition include:
i. not everything, as many philosophers argue, can be grasped intellectually, or reduced to an
argument or expressed in language. They point out the role played by non-rational in that some
claims can be justified through an appeal to something other than or different from reason. Many
philosophers for instance, subscribe to foundationalism; the view that there are inevitable
ultimate presuppositions which are known with certainty as the foundations of all our other ideas
but which themselves cannot be proved.
DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
1.1 Introduction
In this first lesson, we introduce you to the meaning of the term “philosophy” beginning with an
etymological definition followed by other definitions.
1.2 Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
a) Define Philosophy
1.3 Definition of Philosophy
The term ‘philosophy’ is derived from a combination of two Greek words, these are: philia meaning love
and Sophia meaning wisdom. Simply put, philosophy means “love of wisdom”. One can therefore define
philosophy as the “love of wisdom”
According to Socrates (467-399 B.C.), the love of wisdom entails the pursuit of the truth and nothing
but objective truth. As for Plato (427-347 B.C.), it is gaining the vision of absolute ideas-one must be
able to discover what the character of universal reality is. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) reinforces this view
when he stated that philosophy is the investigation of all things, considering logical rules in the
determination of the true nature of reality.
Therefore, philosophy means being in the habit of seeking to be wise about the human experience.
Limitations of this original and broad usage of the term philosophy
i. It is not clear what philosophy is today given that it has relinquished the task of acquisition of
factual knowledge to natural and behavioral sciences that have developed and moved out of it.
ii. The relevance of philosophy is not clear: whether wisdom is pursued for the sake of it or it has
practical bearing on lives of people.
, 1.4 Philosophy as an Evaluation of Concepts, Beliefs about Human Experience
Suppose we take a common experience such as happiness. To a person for example John, happiness is
achieved through possession of money and property. To a philosopher, this claim will not be taken by
its face value. A philosopher will want to be wise and will for example ask if there exist persons who
have money and property yet are unhappy. He will ask whether happiness is equal to property and
money. A philosopher will raise both actual and logical questions like: what is money? What is property?
What is happiness? Is happiness possible through something else rather than money? In this way,
philosophy may be defined as an evaluation of our concepts and judgements of reality, knowledge and
beliefs that form part of human experience
Limitations of this definition include:
i. It does not distinguish philosophy from many vague, confused, and superficial beliefs.
ii. It neither distinguishes between popular (general) and professional neither sense of philosophy.
iii. It does not describe the worker/task of a philosopher.
1.5 Philosophy as a body of Concepts and as an Activity
As for this definition, “philosophy” refers to: (i) A body of concepts or theories and (ii) An activity. By
a body of concepts, we mean the work of philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. As an activity,
it is the deliberate critical examination, evaluation and discussion of judgements, policies, rules, theories,
and standards. It is a way of thinking about reality.
Limitations to this definition include:
i. not everything, as many philosophers argue, can be grasped intellectually, or reduced to an
argument or expressed in language. They point out the role played by non-rational in that some
claims can be justified through an appeal to something other than or different from reason. Many
philosophers for instance, subscribe to foundationalism; the view that there are inevitable
ultimate presuppositions which are known with certainty as the foundations of all our other ideas
but which themselves cannot be proved.
