The word philosophy comes from the Greek
root words "philo" and "sophia." The word
philo means "love" and the word sophia
means wisdom. These words together define philosophy in the Greek
language as "the love of wisdom."
There are several definitions of the word philosophy:
1) The study of truths or principles of essential knowledge;
2) A system of learned beliefs;
3) Critical study of basic beliefs;
4) The study of principles for guidance in every day affairs;
5) A thoughtful spirit or attitude.
Pre-Socratic Philosophy
Pre-Socratic philosophers are given
credit for being the first of many great thinkers to separate thinking
and impressions about the world and reality from a religious or
mythological background. The pre-Socratic philosophers were concerned with such things as knowing the difference between the appearance and actuality of the physical world, the characteristics and connection between limitlessness and limit, and the possibility of change in the
necessary elements. The pre-Socratic period takes us from 600
to 400 BC.
Sophists
The word sophist is derived from
the Greek word sophos, which means wise. Sophists
were the professional educators and lecturers of the 5th century
BC (in Classical Athens. Instead of studying the philosophy of science, they focused on more practical things like having a way with words, politics,
and law. These studies were said to be necessary to become successful,
or sophisticated.
Skepticism
The word skepticism comes from
the Greek word skeptesthai, which means to examine or
to consider. It is a general name for the philosophic or
scientific attitude that rejects claims to certainty. The main
problem with the idea of certainty that skeptics have is that
the likelihood of knowledge is limited by the mind or by the or
availability of the object or idea that proves the claim. In other
words, question everything. One difficulty that skeptics face
is that proving absolute uncertainty, which is what they try to
do, is just as difficult as proving the claim of certainty.