Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom - what kind of love is that?

**Admin** Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:09 pm

If philosophy means, literally, the love of wisdom, what kind of love is that? Why is it significant that philosophy is called the love of wisdom? It was Pythagoras who initially used the term philosopher - "lover of wisdom." Also, there are several Plato dialogues that deal with the topic of love - most notably, The Symposium. What can an exploration of this everyday term offer us as we try to better understand philosophy?

Phoenix Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:42 pm

Admin wrote:If philosophy means, literally, the love of wisdom, what kind of love is that? Why is it significant that philosophy is called the love of wisdom? It was Pythagoras who initially used the term philosopher - "lover of wisdom." Also, there are several Plato dialogues that deal with the topic of love - most notably, The Symposium. What can an exploration of this everyday term offer us as we try to better understand philosophy?

Wasn't the term "love" redefined during the Renaissance/Romantic Era? Didn't it simply mean "passion" before then? This is rather interesting.

The first thing to think about when dealing with philosophy is what words mean now and what they meant back then. Modern English has transformed so much over the centuries to where we're using the same words now that had completely different definitions back when they were invented.

EDIT: For example, in Shakespeare's "Othello," Othello and Iago both have lines declaring their love for each other, but it meant something completely different: they were declaring their friendship for each other.

**ILoveInquiry** Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:42 pm

The Greeks at the time of Socrates and Plato had at least 3 main words for different types of love:
1) eros - passion 2) philos - brotherly / friendly / familial love 3) agape - unconditional love (like love of the divine).
Is it significant that philosophia makes use of the second type of love and not eros?

Eclipse Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:06 pm

Phoenix wrote:EDIT: For example, in Shakespeare's "Othello," Othello and Iago both have lines declaring their love for each other, but it meant something completely different: they were declaring their friendship for each other.

Um, Iago lied through his teeth, he actually hated Othello for various reasons.

Phoenix Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:07 pm

Eclipse wrote:
Phoenix wrote:EDIT: For example, in Shakespeare's "Othello," Othello and Iago both have lines declaring their love for each other, but it meant something completely different: they were declaring their friendship for each other.

Um, Iago lied through his teeth, he actually hated Othello for various reasons.

That's completely beside the point. The fact is they both used the word "love" with each other, and it had a completely different meaning than it does now.

Eclipse Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:08 pm

Well, you can still love a friend today, as "love" has multiple definitions and points of view.

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Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom - what kind of love is that?

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Re: Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom - what kind of love is that?

Re: Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom - what kind of love is that?

Re: Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom - what kind of love is that?

Re: Philosophy is the Love of Wisdom - what kind of love is that?