What is philosophy?

What is philosophy? 

If one is going to read  about philosophy it seems logical to start with some understanding of what it is.  Philosophy is generally believed to be the pursuit of wisdom which involves an understanding of the nature and value of some aspect of life or all of life for that matter.  It is a search for a general understanding of a field of knowledge that will reveal what the “main thing” is.  It will include an analysis of the basic principles for one’s underlying beliefs that serve as the grounds for why one does what he or she does.   It will reveal how to keep the main thing the main thing.  It is a search for wisdom that will guide one’s processes of thought and conduct.

Philosophy is more than a quest for wisdom that guides our thought patterns.  It also guides what we do.  Historically a strong philosophy was a love for wisdom.  Our word philosophy is derived from two Greek words philos, which meant a predilection or love for something and sophia, which meant wisdom.  Thus philosophy traditionally may be described as preconceived love for a wisdom that would bring a systematized calm or composure.  Classical philosophers believed that philosophy could and would bring about a unified filed of wisdom based on knowledge that would give an “inner peace”.