MAJALAH AL-HIKMAH EDISI 05 | 2017

utama dalam agama. Semoga perbincangan ini dapat memberi manfaat kepada pembaca dan seterusnya memberi semangat kepada kalian untuk terus menyelami lautan Ilmu Perbandingan Agama. Introduction of Philosophy as an intellectual activity can be defined in various ways depending on whether the emphasis is placed on its method or its subject-matter or its purpose. The very first question is of much importance to define and discuss the nature of philosophy. This inquiry into the nature of philos- ophy is called “meta-phi- losophy”. Philosophy is an open-ended, pioneer- ing discipline forever opening up new areas of study and new methods of inquiry. By Dr. Mohamed Mihlar Abdul Muthaliff The word “philosophy” comes from the Greek word ‘philoso- phia’ which literally means ‘love of wisdom’. Etymologically, phi- losophy means love of wisdom but functionally it means both the seeking of wisdom (process) and the wisdom sought (prod- uct). Literal meaning for philoso- phy, therefore, is love of wis- dom,not “love of knowledge”. That is an important distinction. The pioneers of philosophy were interested in the kind of knowledge that enables human to live a good life and that kind of knowledge is what we call ‘wisdom’. Philosophy is such a huge subject that it is difficult to know how to break it down into manageable and logical sections. Perhaps the most basic over- all split at the highest level is geographical, between Eastern Philosophy and Western Phi- losophy (with, arguably, African Etymological Meaning AL-HIKMAH.indd 11-12 15/8/2017 1:48:48 PM