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On the Meaning and Usage of the Word 'Philanthropia'
Abstract
A translation of S. Tromp de Ruiter's classical philological study of the historical development of the meaning and usage of philanthropia in ancient Greek.
The academic study of philanthropy presupposes a comprehensive definition that guides inquiry into what, exactly, philanthropy is and why it matters. At present,
though, no such well-thought-out definition exists. Scholars tend to explore various
facets of philanthropy, according to their particular academic interests, but without a
comprehensive understanding of its full meaning. This article attempts to correct this
lack of synoptic understanding by surveying prominent instances of usage and definitions
of philanthrôpía in the classical Greek era and synthesizing them into a overall
framework for understanding its full classical meaning. In so doing, philanthrôpía is
revealed to be a signal word, the meaning of which significantly evolved to reflect
historically dominant philosophical and cultural trends in classical Greek society. This
article concludes the exploration of this subject begun in an article published in the
previous issue of NVSQ, titled “On the Modern Meaning of Philanthropy.”
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