Philosophia, ( Philosophy) was in the original Latin term, defined as the love of wisdom. Today there are many more threads, (more than can be named here) in areas, such as the philosophy of politics, philosophies of various sciences and as an academic discipline, the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, of reality and existence; this last one is huge and I question whether a definition of it, or for it, can be fixed. By their own place within existence, the various wisdoms must surely wax and wane, change their nature and be constantly redefined.
In Malmesbury this year a festival of Philosophy was held. It has been suggested that there is a lack of wisdom today, that there should be a drive to raise the profile of philosophical study amongst people. Perhaps a festival is one method of doing it. When reporters obtained popular local thought on the general topic, a few people admitted to not knowing what philosophy is, a larger number made a stab at an answer, some expressed disinterest. Those making an attempt to define their understanding of the subject gave varied answers, and under the huge umbrella of all the philosophies, none, it seemed to me, could have been wrong.
So, where does that leave us when trying to determine how much wisdom there truly is around us today? Who is to determine whether there is a lack of wisdom, or to measure how much wisdom there is. What acceptable measures could be used? It appears to me, the very nature of philosophy, esoteric as it can be, is tied up with subjectivity, and determining measures to measure wisdom is unlikely to be entirely successful, (if at all) because the discussion would in all likelihood be embroiled in endless philosophical debate.
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