- PHILOSOPHY -

	From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



	Philosophy is a field of study that includes diverse subfields such as aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic,
and metaphysics, in which people ask questions such as whether God exists, whether knowledge is possible, and what makes
actions right or wrong.  The fundamental method of philosophy is the use of reasoning to evaluate arguments concerning
these questions.  However, the exact scope and methodology of philosophy is not rigid.  What counts as philosophy is 
itself debated, and it varies across philosophical traditions.

	The term philosophy comes from the Greek word "Φιλοσοφία" (philo-sophia), which means "love of wisdom".  The term
is notoriously difficult to define because of the diverse range of ideas that have been labeled as a philosophy.  The
Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy defines it as the study of "the most fundamental and general concepts and principles
involved in thought, action, and reality".  The Penguin Encyclopedia says that philosophy differs from science in that
philosophy's questions cannot be answered empirically, and from religion in that philosophy allows no place for faith or
revelation.  However, these points are called into question by the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, which states: "the
late 20th-century... prefers to see philosophical reflection as continuous with the best practice of any field of 
intellectual enquiry."  Indeed, many of the speculations of early philosophers in the field of natural philosophy 
eventually formed the basis for modern scientific explanations on a variety of subjects.

	Informally, a "philosophy" may refer to a general world view or to a specific ethic or belief.



	ALSO...

	Excerpt from Wikibook Introduction to Philosophy



	Philosophy translates literally from the Greek word philosophia as "love of wisdom" (philo meaning love and 
sophia wisdom).  "What is philosophy?" is itself a philosophical question.  This is a clue to the nature of philosophy.
The subject matter of philosophy is broad, and, uniquely among the disciplines, includes itself in its scope.
Philosophy may be described as fundamental questions about the universe.  In the analytic tradition of North America and
the UK, philosophy is somewhat technical.  It centres on logic and conceptual analysis.  Topics at its centre include 
the theory of knowledge, ethics, the nature of language, and the nature of mind.

	Other traditions view philosophy as the study of the art and science of life: both a general theory and guidance
on living.  In this sense, philosophy is concerned with how to live rather than the attempt to understand.

	In the analytic tradition, philosophy is something you do.  In other traditions, philosophy is a body of 
knowledge to be mastered.  It is possible to exaggerate these differences for when philosophy is not dogma each
tradition may pay homage to the other.