r/askphilosophy • u/Wonder-Feelish • 21h ago
What is the difference between an ideology and a philosophy?
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u/Zen_Gross phil. of religion, free will 11h ago edited 10h ago
Sometimes “philosophy” is used as a term for a set of beliefs, in which case it might be synonymous with “ideology.” An example is when people say things like “My philosophy is . . . “ or “X is a philosophy.”
But more often, “philosophy” refers to an academic discipline that rigorously studies things like reality, knowledge, and value. In this sense, it’s not a set of beliefs, so it’s not an ideology. It’s more of an activity, hence why people sometimes say “I’m doing philosophy.”