What is philosophy?

A number of people seem to have no idea what philosophy actually is and seems to have decided it is some how at odds with science.
I decided to help clear it up.

phi·los·o·phy
/fəˈläsəfē/
noun
noun: philosophy
the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.

• a particular system of philosophical thought.
plural noun: philosophies
"Schopenhauer’s philosophy"

• the study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or experience.
"the philosophy of science"

synonyms: thinking, thought, reasoning
"the philosophy of Aristotle"

Quite literally, the term "philosophy" means, "love of wisdom." In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other. As an academic discipline philosophy is much the same. Those who study philosophy are perpetually engaged in asking, answering, and arguing for their answers to life’s most basic questions. To make such a pursuit more systematic academic philosophy is traditionally divided into major areas of study.

Metaphysics
At its core the study of metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality, of what exists in the world, what it is like, and how it is ordered.

Epistemology
Epistemology is the study of knowledge. It is primarily concerned with what we can know about the world and how we can know it.

Ethics
The study of ethics often concerns what we ought to do and what it would be best to do. In struggling with this issue, larger questions about what is good and right arise.

Logic
Another important aspect of the study of philosophy is the arguments or reasons given for people’s answers to these questions. To this end philosophers employ logic to study the nature and structure of arguments.

History of Philosophy
The study of philosophy involves not only forming one’s own answers to such questions, but also seeking to understand the way in which people have answered such questions in the past. So, a significant part of philosophy is its history, a history of answers and arguments about these very questions.

More at: FSU

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows

What do you think PhD stands for?

a reply to: Aphorism

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

Doctor of Philosophy..............

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows

With my tongue? Just one lick

Science is objective, philosophy is more subjective.

I see philosophy as beyond science, in the sense that we are out there looking for and creating new sciences. Or we ask the questions that inspire objective inquiry. Philosophers are at the very edge of human understanding chipping away at the walls, looking for more. Attempting to think about things that are difficult to think about and the vast majority of people never go there. It requires extensive thought and it can be maddening, even. Most of humanities leading scientists throughout history started as philosophers. Physics, psychology, biology, chemistry, etc... all started as a philosophy.

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows

without engineers - all science is just philosophy

a reply to: HarbingerOfShadows

My personal definition of Philosophy is; The thought of what can be thought about, and the thought of what cannot be thought about. The who, what, when, where, how, why of everything that can be asked those questions of.

My definition of Philosophy is as follows:

The process of thinking deeply about the world and the creations around oneself, and not being afraid to ask questions that examine or challenge the social/political/ethical norms of the society in which the thinker lives.

For those interested, I created a thread a while back that helps introduce Philosophy to those new to the topic.

I have heard it said that a good philosopher is one that asks a question that no one can answer. Maybe philosophy is the study of questions and answers?

a reply to: Fr33domPoet

Yep.
The study of questioning.
Rather important if ask me.

originally posted by: Fr33domPoet
I have heard it said that a good philosopher is one that asks a question that no one can answer. Maybe philosophy is the study of questions and answers?

It's the questioning of questions. No answers.

What is ultimate reality?
This is ultimate reality.
It is not a thing - it is an ever changing tapestry of dancing light.