hmm....i have heard some delcare philosophy as nothing more than defining....trying to declare exatcly what "it" is....and i agree that when it comes to philosophy, building off each other is essential, but philosophy is like art, some are better than others, some have a better understanding of it, and some are famed for it.......at the same time, philosophy is the one of the oldest forms of art, communication, etc.....the greeks essentially revolutionized philosophy from "why does the sun rise" to "what is the sun, why is day opposite than dark, how does the sun effect the world, etc".....

also, philosophy has been delcared the predecessor of science, because of philosophy science evolves.....so in that since, philosophy is science with the thinking as the lab.....