Before we can consider some of the questions studied by philosophy it makes sense to ask what philosophy is in the first place, although this is itself subject to much debate. In this first part of a series introducing philosophy and philosophical ideas, we begin by looking at the word and some of the historical answers given before moving on to more recent opinions, also setting out the divisions typically made and the methods employed.

Historical interpretations of philosophy

The word philosophy has meant different things at different times, often reflecting the culture of the day. Usually we understand the term to denote the love of wisdom, from the Greek; in this sense, as it was apparently used by the famous philosopher Socrates, it gives the impression of someone who is seeking wisdom, rather than having found it. We would only call someone a physicist, say, if he or she actually had some knowledge of physics, but we describe as a philosopher someone who is aiming at wisdom without necessarily achieving it. On the other hand, philosophy has also had the negative sense of a subject full of idle speculation, useless to the practical business of finding things out and consisting mostly in irrelevant theorising.

Over the course of the history of philosophy its meaning seems to have shifted depending on the cultural climate. At some stages it was thought that the ideal state of human affairs could only come to pass when philosophers are kings or vice versa; conversely, we can find others insisting that the business of ruling is one of hard-headed practicalities with no time for worrying about philosophy. To Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher and Roman Emperor, the business of doing philosophy was more important than the conclusions we might come to; the idea was that philosophy is reflecting or thinking about life and our actions, attempting to measure our