φιλοσοφία

Forms

φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱ (philosophíā) f (genitive φῐλοσοφῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a noun of quality formed from Ancient Greek φιλόσοφος (philósophos, “lover of wisdom”) + -ία (-íā).^[1] The adjective is a compound of φίλος (phílos, “dear, loving”) and σοφός (sophós, “skilled, wise”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is found from the 4th century BC, in Isocrates and Plato, as the love and pursuit of knowledge and as speculation.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Isocrates it means systematic study in general, and especially his own training in oratory: he speaks of a “philosophy of discourse” and of the methodical treatment of a subject.^[2][3] Plato gave it the sense of philosophy as a discipline and a way of life, and in Aristotle it also names a particular system, such as the “Italian philosophy” of the Pythagoreans.^[2][3] The Stoics defined it as the practice of a useful art.^[2]

The New Testament uses it only once, in Colossians 2:8, and in a bad sense, of erroneous teaching joined with “empty deceit”.^[5] It passed into Latin as philosophia and into Coptic, and through Arabic فلسفة (falsafa) it reached Persian and Turkish.^[6][1] In Modern Greek it is a learned word, φιλοσοφία (filosofía).^[7]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Isocrates uses it for methodical study and for the study of oratory, and Plato for the pursuit of wisdom.^[2][3][4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for philosophy as a field and for the system of a school.^[2][3][8]
• 1st century AD – Colossians 2:8 uses it of false teaching.^[5]
• Modern Greek – The learned φιλοσοφία (filosofía) means philosophy and a personal outlook on life.^[7][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Love of wisdom; the pursuit of knowledge, speculation.^[2][3]
2. Systematic, methodical treatment of a subject; in Isocrates, the study of oratory.^[2][3]
3. Philosophy as a discipline; the philosophical system of a person or school.^[2][3]
4. (New Testament) A teaching regarded as false or empty.^[5]

Related words

• σοφία (sophíā)
• σοφιστής (sophistḗs)
• φιλοσοφέω (philosophéō)
• φιλοσόφημα (philosóphēma)
• φιλοσοφικός (philosophikós)
• φιλόσοφος (philósophos)
• Latin philosophia

Usage notes

An 18th-century Greek encyclopedia repeats the ancient tradition that Pythagoras was the first to call the pursuit of wisdom by this name.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
6. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
7. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
10. ^ Κάτοπτρον: Ιστορικό λεξικό επιστημονικών όρων (Greek scientific terms 1700–1821)