DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY:

This definition comes from the Collier's Encyclopedia 1998 Multimedia Edition Dictionary:

phi•los•o•phy

n.pl. phi•los•o•phies [abbr.: ]phil. philos.

1.

a.Love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual

means and moral self-discipline.

b.The investigation of causes and laws

underlying reality.

c.A system of philosophical inquiry or

demonstration.

2.Inquiry into the nature of things based on logical

reasoning rather than empirical methods.

3.The critique and analysis of fundamental beliefs as

they come to be conceptualized and formulated.

4.The synthesis of all learning.

5.All learning except technical precepts and

practical arts.

6.All the disciplines presented in university

curriculums of science and the liberal arts, except

medicine, law, and theology.

7.The science comprising logic, ethics, aesthetics,

metaphysics, and epistemology.

8.A system of motivating concepts or principles: the

philosophy of a culture.

9.A basic theory; a viewpoint: an original

philosophy of advertising.

10.The system of values by which one lives: has an

unusual philosophy of life.