Nicomachean Ethics

The definition of Philosophy.

Philosophy, as it has been handed down to memory, the ancient philosophers defined in various ways. Pythagoras, the first
Pythagoras.

of all philosophers—as Heraclides Ponticus, a student of
Plato.

Plato, writes—said it is the love of wisdom, just as the name of philosophy itself signifies. Plato, however, asserted it to be at one time the knowledge of those things which are; at another, the perception of divine and human things; at another, the likeness by which man becomes similar to God as far as is possible; but sometimes he asserted it to be the meditation on death.
Philosophy, a meditation on death.

Aristotle, moreover, said this is the art of arts and the science of sciences. By these descriptions, although they are varied, what philosophy is seems nonetheless to be indicated and defined. For every habit by which our soul is able to know can be defined not incongruously either from the subject about which it is, or from the end for the sake of which it is, or from both, and sometimes even from a certain order. And so that this may be made clear by an example, medicine is at one time best defined from the subject about which it is, when it is called the science which is concerned with the human body, or the science of the healthy, the sick, and those in between; at another time from the end for the sake of which it is, when it is called the science preservative or restorative of good health; but from both, as when medicine is said to be the science concerned with the human body, preserving or recovering health. It is also defined from order when it is shown what degree it holds among other arts and sciences. Since, therefore, philosophy is a habit by which our soul is able to perceive, it is deservedly defined in some way from these categories, or from all of them appropriately. Therefore, we have brought forward above six definitions or descriptions of philosophy, of which two are from the subject about which it is, three from the end for the sake of which it is, and one is assigned from order or the nature of its cause. But so that these things may become more clearly known, each one of them seems to need to be explained more broadly. The first definition of philosophy, which Plato brought forward from the perspective of the subject, is that philosophy is the knowledge of those things which are...