Philosophy is…
…Seeking after wisdom or knowledge, esp. that which deals with ultimate reality, or with the most general causes or principles of things and ideas and human perception and knowledge of them, physical phenomena (natural philosophy) and ethics (moral philosophy)- Concise Oxford Dictionary
…An activity- the attempt to understand the general principles and ideas that lie behind various aspects of life- Teach Yourself Philosophy
…The use of reason and argument to search for truth and knowledge about reality. It is a way to look at and think through questions and problems; A technique for determining if the arguments presented are faulty in reasoning- Philosophy In Action
…Foundational to many other disciplines. What yesterday was called philosophy is today called psychology or government or physics or some other subject, or even just plain common sense…Wars are founded on philosophy, or on efforts to destroy one…Philosophies give birth to civilizations. They also end them- Philosophy: The Power of Ideas
…Something that doesn’t always give us something we can take to the bank. Could it be that philosophy is basically useless? The fact is, philosophy is unavoidable. Even if you think you don’t already have a philosophy, you actually do- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Philosophy
Other Quotes About Philosophy:
“There is one thing that a philosopher can be relied on to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.”- William James (1842-1910)
“When he who hears doesn’t know what he who speaks means, and when he who speaks doesn’t know what he himself means- that is philosophy”- Voltaire (1694-1778)
“There is nothing so strange and so unbelievable that it has not been said by one philosopher to the other.”- Descartes (1596-1650)
“Philosophy consists largely of one philosopher arguing that all the others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself.”- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)
