Philosophy

Philosophy comes from the Greek words philos (love) and sophia (wisdom), meaning the love of wisdom or the love of fables.

What philosophy is or why philosophizing is done, depends on the philosopher or school of philosophy doing it. Really it depends on whom is asked about what philosophy is or why they are doing philosophy.

For Aristotle philosophizing began in awe and wonder. So the philosopher was moved to ask a question by wonderment.

For Ludwig Wittgenstein philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of language. Here the philosopher is struggleing with language as if spell bound.

Perhaps then, oversimplified, philosophy is the sum of discourses (spoken or written) or language-games about something or even nothing, that are spawned either by wonder or bewitchment.

Rather than just looking at definitions of philosophy, philosophy is probably best shown by looking at what and how philosophers are doing philosophy.

The question of philosophy might also be metaphilosophical. Meta-philosophy is self-referncial. It is not some second-order discourse or higher level inquiry. It is philosophy bending back on itself.

Metaphilosophy is reflexive. But is no more different than the reflexive pronoun “myself.” In order to, grasp the meaning of the reflexive pronoun “myself,” the use or function in an ordinary discourse must be attended to.

Likewise, looking at where, why, and how philosophy is used, yields the meaning of philosophy.

To look at what philosophers say is doing philosophy is metaphilosophy. The reflexive sought then is when a philosopher asks, “what is doing philosophy?” and gives an answer such as, “Philosophy is the love of wisdom.” But it also might be to see the philosopher ask, “why is there something, rather than nothing?” or to state “Cogito ergo sum,” or declare “Describe language-games!”