Abstract

This article analyses the basic concepts of philosophy in order to argue that it is a field of knowledge that can be ascribed neither to science nor to the humanities. In ancient times, philosophy aimed at being a science in the full sense of the word, a field of knowledge in itself, while in modern times it was understood as a weak field of study, one of the humanities, although it was not long before it returned to aiming at being a science, a new science. However, at present philosophy can no longer be identified with science in the strong sense of the word but neither with any of the humanities. What is evident, though, is that philosophy cannot be understood without scientific data and at the same time, it is the basis of all of the humanities.