What is philosophy? What is ……..? - To define thing. - To seek an essence of thing. - To know what make thing as it is.

Etymology Philosophy derives from two Greek words: Philia = the Love Sophia = Wisdom Prajna (Sanskrit) = Wisdom Panna (Bali) = Wisdom

Henry David Thoreau To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but to so love wisdom as to live, according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust.

Albert Camus I see many people die because they judge that life is not worth living. I see others paradoxically getting killed for the ideas and illusions that give them a reason for living (what is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying). I therefore conclude that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions.

Immanuel Kant You will not learn from me philosophy, but how to philosophize, not thoughts to repeat, but how to think. Think for yourself, enquire for yourself, stand on your own feet.

Daniel Kolak & Raymond Martin Since everything is questionable, wisdom requires questioning everything. That is what philosophy is: the art of questioning everything.

Fung Yui Lan When men talk about philosophy or religion, they may have quite different ideas in their minds concerning them. For my part, what I call philosophy is systematic, reflective thinking on life. Every man, who has not yet dies, is in life. But there are not many who think reflectively on life, and still fewer whose reflective thinking is systematic. A philosopher must philosophize; that is to say, he must think reflectively on life, and then express his thoughts systematically.

John M. Koller The story of philosophy is the story of human reflection on life. The problem of life are the source and touchstone of philosophy … The fundamental questions of philosophy are, “ Who am I? ” and “ How should we live? ” As we reflect on our experience of life and confront the inevitability of our death, we cannot help but wonder about the meaning and value of life. Since our most important activities are aimed at preserving life and giving it value, it is natural to reflect on how we should live and who we are, developing ideas about the nature of human existence and the good life.

Buddhism How to deal with doubtful matter; advice on how to investigate a doctrine; Be not led by report; be not led by tradition; be not led by hearsay; be not led by the authority of texts; be not led by mere logic; be not led by considering appearances; be not led by the agreement with a considered and approved theory; be not led be seeming possibilities; be not led by the idea ‘ this is our teacher ’. When you have yourself known it, if it is wrong, you avoid it. If it is right, you accept it.

And what philosophy is …. The business of defining ‘ philosophy ’ beyond its etymology becomes even more difficult. Each philosopher is inclined to define the word by applying it to the method he or she has adopted. There is no universally acceptable definition of ‘ philosophy ’.

How to learn philosophy? Three main questions are concerned: 1. Who said what? 2. Why did he/she say so? 3. Do you agree with him/her? If yes, why? If no, why not?