The two(Greek etymological combination for philosophy are philien Sophia meaning, literally, the love of wisdom or the practice of keeping company with wisdom. A philosopher would be anyone who loves wisdom or anyone who is in pursuit of wisdom. This definition of philosophy as the pursuit of wisdom is about the oldest and, perhaps, the least controversial meaning of philosophy. Since it is a definition that comes from the root words comprising philosophy, almost everyone would agree that it is the native meaning of philosophy. Apart from Greek and English other major languages have words with a similar connotation for philosophy.

The point I want to make here is that the natural meaning of philosophy is the love of wisdom or a concern with wisdom. All philosophers are likely to agree on this but on they will begin to...