Definition of philosophy by different philosophers

Definition of Philosophy by Different Philosophers

In this article titled 'Definition of philosophy by different philosophers', you will find many definitions of philosophy given by different philosophers, some of the notable ones are:

Definition of philosophy by Plato,
Aristotle definition of philosophy,
Definition of philosophy According to Hegel,
Definition of philosophy According to Karl Marx etc

Definition of Philosophy

Definitions of Philosophy :

Different philosophers and thinkers have defined philosophy from different perspectives on philosophy. Analyzing the definitions given by them reveals different aspects of philosophy. There have been many definitions of philosophy offered by different philosophers throughout history. Here are some of the most famous :

According to Plato : "Philosophy is the acquisition of knowledge."

According to Aristotle : "Philosophy is a science which discovers the real nature of supernatural elements".

According to Socrates : "Philosophy is a daily activity".

According to Levison : "Philosophy is mental activity".

According to John Dewey : "Philosophy is not a panacea (remedy for all kinds of diseases/troubles) for the problems of men, but is that which emerges out of the methods employed by them to solve their problems."

According to Karl Marx : "Philosophy is the interpretation of the world in order to change it".

According to Hegel : "Philosophy is that which grasps its own era in thought."

According to Kant Immanuel : philosophy as "the science and criticism of cognition."

According to Russel : "Philosophy properly deals with matters of interest to the general educated public, and loses much of its value if only a few professionals can understand it."

According to Michel Foucault : "Philosophy is not the reflection of a pre-existing truth, but the production of a new truth."

According to Jean-Paul Sartre : "Philosophy is not a closed, static doctrine, but a living movement."

According to Martin Heidegger : "Philosophy is not a mere pastime or hobby, but a fundamental, necessary way of existing in the world."

According to Friedrich Nietzsche : "Philosophy is not a theory but an activity."

According to René Descartes : "Philosophy is like a tree, whose roots are metaphysics and epistemology, its trunk is logic, and its branches are ethics, aesthetics, and politics."

According to Simone de Beauvoir : "Philosophy is not in its doctrines, but in the analysis of the existence."

According to Michel Foucault : "Philosophy is a sort of critical thought that tries to dismantle the habits of thought that have become almost natural and to bring to light the assumptions that were always already there."

According to Jacques Derrida : "Philosophy is the invention of new concepts, and the rediscovery of old ones."

According to Henderson : "Philosophy is a rigorous, disciplined, guarded analysis of some of the most difficult problems which men have ever faced."

Aristippus : thinks that philosophy is "the ability to feel at ease in any society."

According to Phenix : "Science attempts only at the discovery of facts. Philosophy is not interested in the discovery of facts. Rather, it is interested in facts insofar as to provide an attitude towards them. It tries to organize, interpret, clarify and criticize the already discovered facts of science."

D.J. Connar : defines philosophy "as an activity of criticism or clarification."

According to Plato : "He who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is curious to learn and is never satisfied may be justly termed as a philosopher."

According to G.T.W Patreck "Between science and philosophy the very closest relationship exists. They spring from the same root, the love of knowledge and they aspire to the same end, the knowledge of reality. While science describes the facts, philosophy interprets them."

According to Brubacher : "Science is interested in the proximate or efficient causes of the facts, while philosophy is concerned with its ultimate or final causes."

Henderson thinks that philosophy is a research for "a comprehensive view of nature, an attempt at a universal explanation of the nature of things."

Millard and Bectrocci defined philosophy as the persistent, critical and systematic attempt to discover and consistently formulate in relation to each other the basic characteristics, meanings and values of our experience in its widest perspectives."

According to Ludwig Wittgenstein : "The object of philosophy is the logical clarification of thoughts. Philosophy is not a theory, but an activity. A philosophical work consists essentially of elucidations. The result of philosophy is not a number of ‘philosophical propositions’, but to make propositions clear. Philosophy should make clear and delimit sharply the thoughts which otherwise are, as it were, opaque and blurred."

According to Raymont : "Philosophy is an unceasing effort to discover the general truth that lies behind the particular fact, to discover also the realities that lies behind appearance."

According to Carlies Lamont : "philosophy is the tenacious attempts of reasoning men to think through the most fundamental issues of life, to reach reasonable conclusions on first and last things to suggest worthwhile goals that can command the loyalty of individuals and groups."

According to Kilpatric : "Philosophy is a point of view, outlook on life."

According to Dr.Radhakrishnan : "Philosophy is a view of life. It gives a direction to life, and offers a design for living."

According to Existentialists : "Philosophy is not a search for truth, but a trail of truth".

According to Hiryana : "Philosophy emerged as a result of reflection over the experiences and problems of everyday living."

According to Cicero, Marcus Tullius : "Philosophy is the mother of all arts and "the true medicine of the mind."

According to George Berkeley : "Philosophy, being nothing but the study of wisdom and truth..."

According to Brightman : "Philosophy may be defined as an attempt to think truly about human experience or a whole or to make our whole experience intelligible."

Kant regards philosophy as - "the science and criticism of cognition."

According to Fichte : "Philosophy is the science of knowledge."

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor defined it as the "Science of science."

According to John Armstrong : "Philosophy is the successful love of thinking."

According to Marilyn Adams : "Philosophy is thinking really hard about the most important questions and trying to bring analytic clarity both to the questions and the answers."

According to Edger S. Brightman : "Philosophy is essentially a spirit or method of approaching experiential rather than a body of conclusions about the experience."

According to Richard Bradley : "Philosophy is 99 percent about critical reflection on anything you care to be interested in.”

According to Bramold : "Philosophy is a persistent effort of both ordinary and persistent people to make life as intelligible and meaningful as possible."

According to Herbert Spencer : "Philosophy is concerned with everything as a universal science."

According to Don Cupitt : "Philosophy is critical thinking: trying to become aware of how one’s own thinking works, of all the things one takes for granted, of the way in which one’s own thinking shapes the things one’s thinking about."

According to Joseph A. Leighton : "Philosophy, like science, consists of theories of insights arrived at as a result of systematic reflection."

According to Simon Blackburn : "[Philosophy is] a process of reflection on the deepest concepts, that is structures of thought, that make up the way in which we think about the world. So it’s concepts like reason, causation, matter, space, time, mind, consciousness, free will, all those big abstract words and they make up topics, and people have been thinking about them for two and a half thousand years and I expect they’ll think about them for another two and a half thousand years if there are any of us left."

According to R.W. Sellers : "Philosophy is a persistent attempt to gain insight into the nature of the world and ourselves by systematic reflection."

According to C. J. Ducasse : "Were I limited to one line for my answer to it, I should say that philosophy is a general theory of criticism."

Roy Wood Sellars "Our subject is a collection of science, such as theory of knowledge, logic, cosmology, ethics and aesthetics, as well as a unified survey."

According to Humayun Kabir : philosophy "seeks to give knowledge of the whole."

According to Anthony Kenny : "Philosophy is thinking as clearly as possible about the most fundamental concepts that reach through all the disciplines."

Huxley, Aldous observes "Men live in accordance with their Philosophy of life."

H. Dumery defines philosophy as a "critical reflection on concrete action."

According to Clifford Barrat : "It is not the specific content of these conclusions, but the spirit and the method by which they are reached, which entitles them to be described as philosophical..."

Curtis, George William states "During the course of centuries, the meaning attached to philosophy has undergone many changes, and even in the present day, thinkers are not in complete agreement about the aims and subject-matter of this branch of knowledge."

According to Michael S. Russo : PHILOSOPHY = "A critical examination of reality characterized by rational inquiry that aims at the Truth for the sake of attaining wisdom."

Milton K. Munitz suggests that "philosophy is a quest for a view of the world and of man's place in it, which is arrived at and supported in a critical and logical way."

Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines philosophy as "Love of exercising one’s curiosity and intelligence" rather than the love of wisdom.

Wikipedia : "Philosophy is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Some sources claim the term was coined by Pythagoras, although this theory is disputed by some."

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."

Edgar S. Brightman "Philosophy is essentially a spirit or method of approaching experience rather than a body of conclusions about experience."

Clifford Barrat "If it is not the specific content of the conclusions, but the spirit and method by which they are reached, which entitles them to be described as philosophical..."

C.J. Ducasse "Were I limited to one line for my answer to it, I should say that philosophy is a general theory of criticism."

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Definition of philosophy by different philosophers