philosophizev.
/fᵻˈlɒsəfʌɪz/, U.S. /fəˈlɑsəˌfaɪz/ 1.
a. intransitive. To think, reason, or argue philosophically; to speculate, theorize. Frequently with about, on.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > philosopher > [verb (intransitive)]
philosophya1382
philosophize1594
philosophate1603
intellectualize1827
1594 R. Carew tr. J. Huarte Exam. Mens Wits iii. 27 To the end the reasonable soule may discourse and Philosophize [It. filosofare].
1623 in C. Butler Feminine Monarchie (rev. ed.) sig. A2 That the Pismere, and these Hony-flies, Instruct vs better to Philosophize.
1653 H. More Antidote Atheism (1662) iii. xii. 125 My intent is not to Philosophize concerning the nature of Spirits, but onely to prove their Existence.
1690 T. Burnet Theory of Earth iii. 44 It is a great question whether..Moses did either philosophize or astronomize in that description.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. May 221/1 I crave leave to philosophize a little on this phænomenon.
1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers i. iii. 234 When men first began to Philosophize it was very natural for them to indulge conjecture.
1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. III. 247 Bacon..presumed not to establish a philosophy, but to show how we should philosophise.
a1856 W. Hamilton Lect. Metaphysics (1859) I. iv. 65 Man philosophises as he lives. He may philosophise well or ill, but philosophise he must.
1904 J. London Sea-wolf x. 102 ‘And he has never philosophized on life,’ I added.
1999 High Country News 27 Sept. 16/3 We hummed, philosophized and sometimes just sat in silence.
b. transitive. To bring into a specified condition by philosophical argument or thought. Frequently reflexive. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1678 tr. G. J. de Lavergne Five Love-Lett. Nun to Cavalier v. 112 I have outliv'd all your Outrages, and Philosophiz'd my self into a state of Repose.
1737 Wks. of Learned I. 67 He endeavoured to philosophize himself into a Belief, that Animals were mere Machines.
1819 J. Keats Let. 21 Apr. (1958) II. 101 Let the fish philosophise the ice away from the Rivers in winter time.
1844 N. Brit. Rev. 1 71 To philosophize our starving operatives into a quiet endurance.
1957 S. Cox Swinger of Birches 42 I'm not saying that Robert Frost philosophized himself into humor.
2003 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 11 May (Features section) 13 I've philosophised myself out of being commercially viable.
2. transitive. To render philosophical; to make conformable to the principles of philosophy; to explain, treat, or consider philosophically.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > [verb (transitive)]
philosophize1710
1710 E. Ward Nuptial Dialogues & Deb. II. xvii. 330 'Tis not all your Gravity shall bring My Temper to obey my nuptial King; Nor all the artful Reas'nings you can shew, Philosophize a Creature call'd a Shrew.
1799 M. Robinson Thoughts on Condition of Women (ed. 2) 62 I will not attempt to philosophize how far the influence of reason actuated on more recent events.
1800 S. T. Coleridge Let. 22 Sept. (1956) I. 625 I wish you to philosophize Horne Tooke's System.
1805 ‘C. Caustic’ Democracy Unveiled ii. 44 To kill one half mankind were best, Just to philosophize the rest.
1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics I. iii. iv. 102 This endeavour to philosophise superstition.
1890 J. H. Stirling Philos. & Theol. ii. 28 To attempt to philosophize the Christian Godhead would only repugn.
1964 B. Dylan Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll (song) in Lyrics (1993) 144 You who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears.
2002 Church Times 6 Dec. 21/3 The metaphor was developed and in part philosophised by Philo in the first century AD.
3. transitive, with direct speech as object. To say, write, or comment philosophically.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > philosopher > [verb (intransitive)] > say or comment philosophically
philosophize1842
1842 H. W. Herbert Sporting Scenes & Sundry Sketches I. 82 ‘Some pork will boil that way,’ philosophized the Hicksite.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. ix. [Scylla & Charybdis] 197 The will to live, John Eglinton philosophised, for poor Ann, Will's widow, is the will to die.
1977 J. Wainwright Do Nothin' vi. 97 ‘It takes all sorts,’ I philosophise.
1991 Premiere Aug. 98/2 ‘The important thing about a hayride isn't the hay,’ philosophizes Elvis's colleague.
Derivatives
phiˈlosophized adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > [adjective] > rendered philosophic
philosophized1772
1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. iii. vi. 544 That philosophised orator [Sp. orador afilosophado] who suspected [etc.].
1854 F. D. Maurice Moral & Metaphysical Philos. (ed. 2) II. 27 This early form of..philosophized Christianity.
1998 Social Text 55 5 Intellectual discourses in China continue to take the form of a coded, often philosophized language.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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