What is a philosophy? It is impossible to give a definition for it unequivocally already because its understanding differed significantly in different historical eras, and even at the same time in different schools and directions, the points of view can be very different, including mutually exclusive. Its subject area has also been understood and is still understood differently.
Philosophy in Antiquity
“Love of wisdom” - this is how the word “philosophy” is translated from the ancient Greek. The definition was originally built on this. It is believed that Pythagoras was the first to call himself the philosopher, and so he expressed his greatest humility: he believed that only gods possess wisdom, and it is not available to mere mortals, and they can only love it, strive for it with all their might.
Ancient Greek philosophy was autonomous from mythical representations and religious traditions, as well as from moral and political teachings. Often, she was actually a synonym for science, since it was pure knowledge, not aimed at achieving practical goals. On the other hand, philosophy was not an abstract higher knowledge, but a practice to achieve it.
Almost everything that existed was covered by philosophy. The definition of its subject, however, was not limited to the whole world. Its main section is metaphysics. This study is not so much what exists as the first and most general principles and principles of the organization of the world, its consideration as a whole, and even that which is on the other side of the world.
In the texts of Plato, the word "philosophy" is found - a definition of what he and his students do.
If in the ancient era it was free from religion and morality, then then for a long time it “merged” with Christianity and theology. Only in modern times did philosophy in the West become a relatively separate phenomenon from religion and again began to intensively draw closer to science.
Modern definitions of philosophy
In the modern sense, the original meaning of this word has faded into the background, that is, we are no longer talking about wisdom. Now it is often understood as a science that studies the most general fundamental characteristics of the world and man.
But is the definition correct: is philosophy a science? Some philosophers really try to get closer to science, using scientific methods of cognition, primarily logical. This point of view is called scientism.
At the same time, even the classical methods of cognition in philosophy are not so universal and far from universally recognized: some philosophers are critical of logic and reason. On the contrary, they often strive to separate philosophy from science. This position is called anti-scientism.
You can define philosophy through its subject, but here it is not so simple. In the twentieth century, the opinion that it does not have a special subject area (unlike other scientific disciplines) became popular. She has a non-specialized subject area - everything, the world as a whole. This also significantly distinguishes philosophy from science: its subject can never be specialized.
