Uploaded June 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
As I said in the previous episode, many contemporary philosophers do not find the literal meaning of the term 'philosophy' (lit. the love of wisdom) to be very enlightening or helpful when understanding the nature of the subject. Most philosophy textbooks ignore this original meaning and instead define philosophy by more or less looking around and observing what philosophers are up to today. But to the mind of the classical philosopher, you can’t possibly pursue philosophy if you don’t understand what it means to pursue wisdom. So, to get at the nature of philosophy as it was originally intended, we have to go back to see how it was defined and explained by the guys who kicked off the philosophical project. And when it comes to defining and unpacking the meaning of philosophy for the classical period, there is no better source that the man who was unquestionably the greatest of the Greek philosophers, and in my opinion probably the greatest philosopher who has ever lived, Aristotle.
In this episode, Dr. Anthony Alberino takes a look at the original meaning of philosophy as the love of wisdom as it was understood by Aristotle as well as by almost everybody in the first 2000 years of philosophical history.
As I said in the previous episode, many contemporary philosophers do not find the literal meaning of the term 'philosophy' (lit. the love of wisdom) to be very enlightening or helpful when understanding the nature of the subject. Most philosophy textbooks ignore this original meaning and instead define philosophy by more or less looking around and observing what philosophers are up to today. But to the mind of the classical philosopher, you can’t possibly pursue philosophy if you don’t understand what it means to pursue wisdom. So, to get at the nature of philosophy as it was originally intended, we have to go back to see how it was defined and explained by the guys who kicked off the philosophical project. And when it comes to defining and unpacking the meaning of philosophy for the classical period, there is no better source that the man who was unquestionably the greatest of the Greek philosophers, and in my opinion probably the greatest philosopher who has ever lived, Aristotle.
In this episode, Dr. Anthony Alberino takes a look at the original meaning of philosophy as the love of wisdom as it was understood by Aristotle as well as by almost everybody in the first 2000 years of philosophical history.
