But not only what is in question--philosophy--is Greek in origin, but how we question, the manner in which we question even today, is Greek.

We ask, "what is that?" In Greek this sounds τί ἐστιν. The question of what something is, however, has more than one meaning. We can ask, "what is that over there in the distance?" We receive the answer, "a tree." The answer consists in the fact that we name a thing which we do not clearly recognise.

We can, however, ask further, "what is that which we call a 'tree'?" With the question now posited we are already approaching the Greek τί ἐστιν. It is this form of questioning which Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle developed. They ask, for example, "What is the beautiful? What is knowledge? What is Nature? What is movement?"

¶ 5:45 AM