Sophia (σοφία) — “Wisdom” — specifically theoretical wisdom, oriented toward knowledge of first causes and necessary truths. For Aristotle, sophia is the highest of the intellectual virtues, superior to phronesis (which deals with the contingent). Love of sophia is the impulse that defines the philosopher. The Sophists claimed to possess sophia and taught it for payment — which Socrates rejected by saying he possessed only philo-sophia (love of wisdom, not wisdom itself).
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