What Philosophy is? (MR. JOEL C.

PORRAS)

The Greek word sophia is ordinarily translated into English as "wisdom," and the compound philosophia,
from which "philosophy" derives, is translated as "the love of wisdom." But sophia had a much wider range of
application than the modern English "wisdom." Wherever intelligence can be exercised -- in practical affairs, in
the mechanical arts, in business -- there is room for Sophia. Furthermore, whereas modern English draws a fairly
sharp distinction between the search for wisdom and the attempt to satisfy intellectual curiosity, Herodotus
used the verb philosophein in a context in which it means nothing more than the desire to find out (History I,
30).
Briefly then, philosophia etymologically connotes the love of exercising one's curiosity and intelligence
rather than the love of wisdom. Although philosophers have often sought to confine the word "philosophy"
within narrower boundaries, in popular usage it has never entirely lost its original breadth of meaning.

The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. To the Greeks, philosophy was primarily the love of wisdom. Socrates, a
master of philosophers, did not profess to have wisdom or knowledge, but he sought them. His philosophy was
always a quest, never a body of knowledge or doctrine. Some Greek philosophers, less modest than Socrates,
taught what they believed to be truth. What they taught came to be known, like the quest for truth, as
philosophy.
The Greeks were not fond of definitions and did not impose sharp limitations on philosophy. It did not
include manual skill or such occupational learning as that of the farmer, the sophist, the physician, or the priest.
It comprised the body of disinterested learning. The word is still used in this sense in the title, doctor of
philosophy.
What is now known as philosophy in the narrower or technical sense is a residuum of the body of
learning that formerly included mathematics and the natural and social sciences. Still under philosophy are
various branches of learning, which include logic, metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics.
The history of philosophy is largely the history of metaphysics, the science of being or of human
experience of being. The Chinese philosophy, associated especially with Confucius, is an honorable example. The
greatest names in Greek philosophy are Socrates, his pupil Plato and Aristotle, Plato's pupil. It is said that still
every philosopher is either a Platonist or an Aristotelian.
There were various schools of Greek philosophy, as the Stoics and the Epicureans. The great
philosophical system developed in the Middle Ages is scholasticism.

The Relevance of Philosophy. Of what possible use can this be to me in later life? Many a college
student has wondered. "What is philosophy other than a prolonged head trip? Years after graduation, I would
have long forgotten about Aristotle and Kant. And then what?" The lament has a certain appeal. After all, one
doesn't need philosophy to earn a living, start a family, become wealthy or famous, have fun or even learn about
the world. And many can get along quite fine without being too serious or curious or reflective. Socrates was
probably speaking for a minority of the human family when he said the "unexamined life is not worth living."
But experience has a way of leading even the most pragmatic men and women into the arms of
philosophy. Someone suddenly loses a best friend or spouse to cancer and is stricken with grief. The person
wonders how it's fair, or why a benevolent deity could allow such awful tragedies to occur. She ponders the loss
and sees clearly how ephemeral life really is, and how so very little -- not least one's relationships -- can be taken
for granted anymore. The questions are philosophical ones, and the pensive mood occasions many thoughts
about justice, love, religion, truth and the meaning of existence. A little perspective at that point is worth all the
money one has saved up and all the success one has enjoyed.
Many of us will work hard all our adult life, build up a retirement account, achieve certain professional
distinctions, but inevitably ask if "this is all there is." When boredom hits, when reason informs us that there
must be something deeper in life than merely acquiring things and padding the bank account -- when life feels
empty, even meaningless -- where do we turn? Popular culture has little to offer in the way of profundities and
insights. It can distract us, titillate us, even throw a salve on an aching heart, but cannot offer a searching mind
what it is looking for or what it hopes to find.
Religions tell us that assent should precede understanding, and that faith is a wonderful surrogate for
knowledge. They ask us to accept certain texts as precious and holy, even though such texts were written by
ordinary men, fallible just as the rest of us are fallible, susceptible to culture-determined notions just as the rest
of us are. For some of us, mere faith isn't enough. We want to know, we want the naked truth. We would much

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prefer an ugly truth to a soothing falsehood, and would rather stand with the lonely truth than with popular
illusions and myths. It is philosophy to which we must then turn, for better or worse.
Albert Camus writes in The Myth of Sisyphus: "Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory,
meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday
according to the same rhythm -- this path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the 'why' arises and
everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement. 'Begins' -- this is important. Weariness comes at the
end of the acts of a mechanical life, but at the same time it inaugurates the impulse of consciousness."
At some point, even those unlikely to ask about the whys and wherefores of life early on will have to
confront them. And for most of us, the questions regularly arise, in some form or other, so that philosophy in
some sense is unavoidable and cannot be considered merely an arid mental exercise. Questions such as these: Is
there or is there not a God? If we believe there is no such entity as God, then does it make sense to speak of
right and wrong anymore? How are moral judgments then grounded? Why does anything at all exist -- anything
as opposed to nothing?

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