Guide to the Philosopher’s Brain!
We are all philosophers, to more or less of a degree, our entire lives, though many of us don’t know it yet. Some choose particular philosophies exclusively, while others of us are completely clueless. Maybe if we could define “philosophy”…?
I understand the term ‘philosophy’ in my head, but putting it into words is really quite difficult, simply because there is so much and so little involved in practice. In order to make a full definition, one would have to take a look at each branch or style, per se, of philosophy and summarize each one from about a gazillion sources.
It wasn’t easy but, after hours and hours of reading (one of my favourite websites was “Guide to the World’s Philosophers”…beautiful site), a general definition in layman’s terms formed itself around the abstract idea floating between my ears.
Define: “Philosophy”: The acquisition of the knowledge of physical realities and the facts of your own spiritual belief system and merging them into a way of life which has the potential to help all and harm none.
This post is now complete.
The Philosopher's Nook 
I like your definition but doesn’t it almost entirely rule out the domain of metaphysics? And, indeed epistemology, which is not concerned directly with the acquisition of of knowledge, but rather the question, ‘what is knowledge?’ and how can we best acquire it. Thanks for linking the site, by the way – it’s brilliant.
Hmmm…I’m not so sure that it does, Edward. It would depend, more or less, what your ‘spiritual belief system’ entails, wouldn’t it? Spirituality actually involves abstract concepts that can be explained more by experiencing them than by trying to put them into words…for instance, how do you explain love or the relationship between time and space? My own belief spiritual belief system involves an omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient God without whom the sciences would not even exist, as there would be nothing to study!
Honestly, Edward, I had not even considered the expansion of the thought when I wrote it! My Mama always said, “You learn something new every day…”, so thanks for adding to my education today!