Philosophy

What is philosophy?

The word philosophy comes from ancient Greek: a philosopher is a lover, or pursuer (philia), of wisdom (sophia).^[1] One well-known description, from the philosopher Wilfrid Sellars, is that philosophy aims to understand how things, in the broadest possible sense, hang together.^[1]

Philosophers treat nature, consciousness, morality, beauty and the organization of society as serious subjects of study.^[1] What marks them out is a willingness to be skeptical of traditions, and curiosity about the natural world and our place in it.^[1] Unlike many fields, philosophy can’t simply take its starting assumptions for granted: philosophers cannot automatically rule anything out.^[1]

The philosopher’s toolkit

• Arguments. A claim is the conclusion of a series of sentences, called premises, that provide evidence for it. Philosophy is largely about building and testing such arguments.^[2]
• Logic. Logic formalizes reasoning, so we can check whether a claim is well-founded and consistent.^[2]
• Thought experiments. Imagined scenarios that isolate one feature of a concept. Plato’s ideal city in The Republic and Aristotle’s argument about the vacuum are classic examples.^[2]
• Conceptual analysis. Taking an idea apart: describing it precisely and breaking it into its component parts.^[2]
• Intuition. Some truths, like 2 + 2 = 4, seem self-evident. This idea goes back to Plato’s notion of insight into the nature of things.^[2]

Philosophers also draw evidence from the history of philosophy, from common sense and perception, and from the results of other sciences. In experimental philosophy, they test philosophical claims empirically.^[2]

Philosophy and science

Early Greek philosophy blends into a period of natural philosophy, when thinkers tried to explain nature using rational methods. This is the root of the sciences.^[1] Thales, for example, is credited with predicting a solar eclipse in 585 BCE.^[1]

A global tradition

Philosophy did not start in one place. Alongside the Greek thinkers, traditions of sages and wisdom grew up in India, China and Africa, among other places.^[1] Explore Ethics, Religions and Scientific Method nearby on the map to follow some of these threads.