We explain to you what the etymology of the concept “philosophy” is. Furthermore, the different definitions and discussions about this term according to various philosophers.
The word “philosophy” has its origin in Greek philosophy (φιλοσοφία). Philosophy It is a Greek voice whose form is given by the union of –philos (φίλος), which translates as “friend” or “lover”, and –sophia (σοφία), understood as “wisdom”. Thus, the most common translation of philosophy It is “love of wisdom” or “love of knowledge.”
See also: Philosophical knowledge
Discussions about meaning
The term philosophy is made up of the roots -philos and –sophia. The meaning around sophia It does not arouse many suspicions: it is generally “wisdom.” This is because the philosopher is associated with the figure of the wise man: he does not possess knowledge but rather seeks it.
Most of the discussions about the meaning of “philosophy” take place around philosa phrase that has its origin in the verb philein (φιλεῖν), which means “to love”. Although this is not confusing, it is often forgotten that in the Greek world love was understood as philein It was not an exclusively romantic love, but it could be the love of friends. Although this distinction seems a matter of taste, it is not a minor issue, since there is a difference between the lover and the friend.
Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995), contemporary French philosopher, maintains that the lover of wisdom is the one who wants to possess itwhile the friend is the one who wants it but never reaches it. In What is philosophy?published together with Félix Guattari (1930-1992) in 1991, Deleuze affirms that, for the Greeks, the philosopher was not the wise man, since philosophers, understood as the friends of wisdom, did not possess it in a formal way, but who were always in search of him.
This way of understanding philosophy etymologically is reflected, for example, in figures such as Socrates (470-399 BC). In Apology of Socratesby Plato, he put the famous phrase “I only know that I know nothing” into his teacher's mouth. This phrase should be understood as the statement of someone who, recognizing himself as ignorant, longs, seeks and accompanies wisdom like someone seeking the company of a friend.
J.-F. Lyotard (1924-1998), French philosopher, explains in Why philosophize? (1989) that philosophy takes its origin from desire. There, recovering the origin of the god Eros, born of poverty and abundance, he maintains that the desire for philosophy is precisely that: the double condition of one who continually seeks, longing for what he seeks, but can never achieve it.
Continue with: Aristotelian thought
References
- Deleuze, G., Guattari, F., & Kauf, T. (2001). What is philosophy?. Barcelona: Anagram.
- Lyotard, J.F., & Veiga, J.M. (1989). Why philosophize?: four conferences. Paidós.
- Greek, D. M. (1967). Classical Greek-Spanish. Vox
