Other forms: philosophies
Philosophy is the study of truth, existence, knowledge and how to live, pursued by argument rather than experiment. Study philosophy, moral philosophy, a question for philosophy.
It is also somebody's guiding set of beliefs: my philosophy is to say yes and worry later, the company philosophy. That second use is everyday and much looser. The branches have names worth knowing — ethics, logic, metaphysics, epistemology — and the adjective is philosophical, which also means calmly accepting bad news: he was philosophical about losing, which is a very useful and slightly wry English usage.
1nounphilosophyThe study of knowledge, existence and how to live.
“She read philosophy and went into insurance.”
2nounguidingSomebody's guiding set of beliefs.
“His whole philosophy is that things generally work out.”
philosophy is a field of study.
Greek philosophia is philos, loving, plus sophia, wisdom — the love of wisdom. Pythagoras is said to have coined it because calling yourself wise was presumptuous, and loving wisdom was the most anyone should claim.
Middle English
philosophie
English, today
philosophy
Built from
From Middle English philosophie. From Middle English philosophie, Old French philosophie, and their source, Latin philosophia, from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία, from φίλος (“loving”) + σοφία (“wisdom”). by surface analysis, philo- + -sophy. ūþwitegung.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA