The most philosophical action is to discuss what is philosophy? Because no one knows exactly what it is, but there is still something called philosophy. For one, philosophy is not a “single thing.” The word “philosophy” has been used in different meanings throughout history. However, there is also a historical event that all meanings are based on. Aren’t all words, concepts, and institutions like this? Over time, they all change because we are all workers of our language. Like diligent and daring workers at a construction site, we try to renew every part of it; but when society embarks on a completely different construction, ours loses its significance. As a result, philosophy starts with one thing, deals with something else in the middle, and ends with yet another thing, while still remaining a symbol with common points. Just like all other concepts.
The word philosophy comes from the Ancient Greek “φιλοσοφία” (philosophía). It consists of two separate words: “philo” means love, and “sophía” means wisdom.
Even when we learn that it means “love of wisdom,” we still struggle to understand what it is. This is because concepts do not refer to fixed objects. Aside from being markers of a constantly changing world, and the impossibility of marking abstract entities, concepts cannot be definitively pointed out as “this is exactly what it is.” If we look at the characteristics of language, we can understand the difficulty of comprehending concepts, including philosophy.
- Language is ambiguous: The word philosophy does not bring a clear image to our minds. We do not understand anything with absolute certainty from any word; they only acquire meaning within a context related to concrete world situations.
- Language is vague: Even if we define it precisely, people may refer to different things using the same word. Throughout history, the word philosophy has meant loving religion, opposing religion, ideology, anti-ideology, science, and even anti-science—completely contradictory meanings.
- Language is open-ended: Even if we define it precisely and ensure singular meaning, this situation may change in the future, because the symbolic nature of language allows flexibility.
Since “What is philosophy?” is a debate we can never fully resolve, can we just disperse? Never! This is why the debate must continue indefinitely. In fact, philosophers have pointed this out before, and they have faced reactions because of it. There is a truth, but we cannot determine it with absolute certainty. Non-philosophers are those who choose to “act as if it is certain,” while philosophers are those who choose to “act as if they do not know.” Of course, we can sometimes say that philosophers are mistaken, as they do not know absolutely nothing, and we can be sure of some things.
- Ancient Greek tradition: “Greek culture’s pursuit of better knowledge is the root of such a tradition.”
- The art of logic: “Philosophy is the study of what and how we think.”
- Examination of life: “Philosophy studies universals and life itself, rather than specific details within life.”
- Study of theories: “Philosophy is concerned not with concrete events, but with abstract generalizations and concepts.”
- Ethical inquiry: “Philosophy investigates what is right and wrong, that is, what we should do.”
- Cultural consciousness: “Philosophy reflects the thoughts of humanity throughout history.”
- Passion for curiosity: “Philosophy is curiosity; a person who is curious about everything is called a philosopher.”
- Inquiry into knowledge: “Philosophy is a field that explores the limits of knowledge and relates to knowledge itself.”
- Critical dialogue: “The director and actors started analyzing the film’s philosophy as they watched it.”
- Discipline of questioning: “We will determine the philosophy of this initiative after experimenting and failing.”
- Scientific origin: “The methods of physics are largely based on philosophy and form its philosophical foundation.”
- Science: “When Isaac Newton wrote The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, he was directly referring to physics.”
- Metaphysics: “Philosophical truths lead us to contemplate whether God exists or not.”
- Educational tool: “Education is a philosophical endeavor; it is meant to encourage thinking.”
- Meaning of life: “Most people live without having a philosophy.”
- Intellectual art: “The artist attempts to create an empirical domain for philosophy but remains only partially successful.”
- Philosophical movement: “The philosophy of existentialists is that the individual is forced to be free and make choices.”
- Fundamental principles: “Works written with national bias contradict the philosophy of history.”
- Age of Enlightenment: “Philosophy re-emerges and once again becomes the light of society in the 17th century.”
- Faith in human reason: “Let’s trust philosophy, because only philosophy grants value to humanity.”
- Approach: “I am not surprised by our athlete’s philosophy in the match; we are aware of the difference in their understanding of the game.”
- Effort to make sense of things: “Without philosophy, we wouldn’t even be aware of what we need to decide, as we wouldn’t be able to test and examine it.”
- Vision: “Our company’s philosophy is to ensure growth while increasing beneficial outcomes.”
- Ability to remain neutral: “By shedding our judgments and adopting a philosophical perspective, we can see the truth.”
- A tool for producing gold:
- Sociopolitical tool: “Everyone is free in matters such as religion, thought, and philosophical belief.”
- A subfield of theology: “In the Middle Ages, saints began practicing philosophy in the sense of searching for God.”
- Atheism: “Let’s move away from philosophy, which questions God and prioritizes doubt, and turn toward religion.”
- Creating confusion: “Let’s stop philosophizing and present a proposal that the public can understand.”
- Deconstruction of meaning: “When we analyze the philosophy of religion, we realize that it actually closely resembles modern morality, and its components continue to exist in different forms.”
- Linguistics: “With the philosophy of this concept, we have now drawn a framework that is both exclusive and inclusive in meaning.”
Among contemporary Buddhists, philosophy is about freeing oneself from desires. In the West, it is about critical thinking; in Islam, it is wisdom; in China, harmony; in India, liberation—there are hundreds more interpretations…
The word philosophy, like all other words, has endless meanings because the world continues to change. People continue to redefine meanings. Moreover, what seems like a problem—ambiguity, polysemy, and open-endedness—is also an opportunity. Thanks to these qualities, the words wisdom and love were combined in a unique way to create a new word. Just as language can limit understanding, it can also expand possibilities. In the future, philosophy will take on new meanings, and life will continue. Humanity does not realize that language changes as a continuation of the “it was always meant to be this way” mindset. If we did not accept our fate, we would not endure life’s hardships. If we did not accept the meanings of words, we could not communicate with others. We were obliged to acquire the meanings imposed by our education and environment, but once we learn them, we must also question them. Otherwise, we live a life imposed by our surroundings and assume that it is the way it is meant to be.
