Philosopher

What makes a person a philosopher?
Going back to the Greek origins of the word, a philosopher is a 'lover of wisdom.' Philosophers search for meaning. They look beneath the surface to discover how things hang together - what makes life tick.

I consider myself a philosopher but not because I have a Masters in philosophy. A formal education in philosophy does have its benefits. It gives one access to a rich history of individuals and ideas and a familiarity with a common terminology, but that is not what makes you a philosopher.

What makes you a philosopher is a desire to engage with theories and ideas, to tackle arguments that claim to explain something important and seeing if they hold up under logical scrutiny.

A philosopher believes that reasoning is something that can be done well or done poorly and that there is always room to improve the quality of one's reasoning. I expound on this in a short piece titled "Who is a philosopher?".