Definition of "philosophize" [phi•los•o•phize]

• To speculate in a philosophical manner. (verb-intransitive)
• To set forth or express a moralistic, often superficial philosophy. (verb-intransitive)
• To consider (a matter) from a philosophical standpoint. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""Until philosophers rule as kings or those who are now called kings and leading men genuinely and adequately philosophize, that is, until political power and philosophy entirely coincide, while the many natures who at present pursue either one exclusively are forcibly prevented from doing so, cities will have no rest from evils, ... nor, I think, will the human race.""
• "Essays significantly entitled “That to philosophize is to learn to die,” he reports that being bothered by attacks of dread of dying, he at first tried to follow"
• "Plato said that philosophy is a meditation on and a preparation for death; Seneca said that he or she who learns how to die unlearns slavery; and Montaigne said that to philosophize is to learn how to die."