Dr Dan's Fabulous Fundamentals
of
Philosophy Versus Fantasy

philosophy (from Greek), philosophia; from philos, love; or philia, friendship, affection, affinity for, attraction toward, + sophos, a sage, a wise one; or sophia, wisdom, knowledge, skill, practical wisdom or expereience, intelligence) a term with as many meanings as there have been philosophers engaging in it. Some basic definitions:

1. the speculative attempt to present a systematic and complete view of all reality.
2. the attempt to describe the ultimate and real nature of reality.
3. the attempt to determine the limits and scope of our knowledge: its source, nature, validity, and value.
4. the critical inquiry into the presuppositions and claims made by the various fields of knowledge.
5. the discipline that tries to help you see what you say and say what you see.

Pythagoras was the first to call himself a philosophos, a philosopher. Sophia meant for him the knowledge of the underlying reasons or causes for things as they appear to us, knowing the reasons why a thing is what it is. This entails an esoteric knowledge of mathematical forms that constitutes true reality as opposed to knowledge of everyday appearances.