A philosopher is someone who practices philosophy. The term "philosopher" comes from the Ancient Greek, φιλόσοφος, meaning "lover of wisdom"; the coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras. In the classical sense, a philosopher was someone who lived according to a certain way of life, focusing on resolving existential questions about the human condition, not someone who discourses upon theories or comments upon authors; these particular brands of philosophy are Hellenistic ones and those who most arduously commit themselves to this lifestyle may be considered philosophers. A philosopher is one who challenges what is thought to be common sense, doesn't know when to stop asking questions, reexamines the old ways of thought. In a modern sense, a philosopher is an intellectual who has contributed in one or more branches of philosophy, such as aesthetics, epistemology, metaphysics, social theory, political philosophy. A philosopher may be one who worked in the humanities or other sciences which have since split from philosophy proper over the centuries, such as the arts, economics, psychology, anthropology and politics.

The separation of philosophy and science from theology began in Greece during the 6th century BC. Thales, an astronomer and mathematician, was considered by Aristotle to be the first philosopher of the Greek tradition. While Pythagoras coined the word, the first known elaboration on the topic was conducted by Plato. In his Symposium, he concludes. Therefore, the philosopher is one. Therefore, the philosopher in antiquity was one who lives in the constant pursuit of wisdom, living in accordance to that wisdom. Disagreements arose as to what living philosophically entailed; these disagreements gave rise to different Hellenistic schools of philosophy. In consequence, the ancient philosopher thought in a tradition; as the ancient world became schism by philosophical debate, the competition lay in living in a manner that would transform his whole way of living in the world. Among the last of these philosophers was Marcus Aurelius, regarded as a philosopher in the modern sense, but refused to call himself by such a title, since he had a duty to live as an emperor.

According to the Classicist Pierre Hadot, the modern conception of a philosopher and philosophy developed predominately through three changes: The first is the natural inclination of the philosophical mind. Philosophy is a tempting discipline which can carry away the individual in analyzing the universe and abstract theory; the second is the historical change through the Medieval era. With the rise of Christianity, the philosophical way of life was adopted by its theology. Thus, philosophy was divided between a way of life and the conceptual, logical and metaphysical materials to justify that way of life. Philosophy was the servant to theology; the third is the sociological need with the development of the university. The modern university requires professionals to teach. Maintaining itself requires teaching future professionals to replace the current faculty. Therefore, the discipline degrades into a technical language reserved for specialists eschewing its original conception as a way of life.

In the fourth century, the word philosopher began to designate a man or woman who led a monastic life. Gregory of Nyssa, for example, describes how his sister Macrina persuaded their mother to forsake "the distractions of material life" for a life of philosophy. During the Middle Ages, persons who engaged with alchemy was called a philosopher – thus, the Philosopher's Stone. Many philosophers still emerged from the Classical tradition, as saw their philosophy as a way of life. Among the most notable are René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Nicolas Malebranche, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. With the rise of the university, the modern conception of philosophy became more prominent. Many of the esteemed philosophers of the eighteenth century and onward have attended and developed their works in university. Early examples include: Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. After these individuals, the Classical conception had all but died with the exceptions of Arthur Schopenhauer, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche.

The last considerable figure in philosophy to not have followed a strict and orthodox academic regime was Ludwig Wittgenstein. In the modern era, those attaining advanced degrees in philosophy choose to stay in careers within the educational system as part of the wider professionalisation process of the discipline in the 20th century. According to a 1993 study by the National Research Council, 77.1% of the 7,900 holders of a PhD in philosophy who responded were employed in educational institutions. Outside academia, philosophers may employ their writing and reasoning skills in other careers, such as medicine, business, free-lance writing and law; some known French social thinkers are Claude Henri Saint-Simon, Auguste Comte, Émile Durkheim. British social thought, with thinkers such as Herbert Spencer, addressed questions and ideas relating to political economy and social evolution; the political ideals of John Ruskin were a precursor of social economy. Important German philosophers and social thinkers included Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, Martin Heidegger.

Important Chinese philosophers and social thinke

Skagway Airport is a state-owned public-use airport in the city of Skagway, Alaska. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2015-2019, which categorized it as a nonprimary commercial service airport based on 7,532 enplanements in 2012; as per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 10,727 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 6,468 enplanements in 2009, 8,531 in 2010. Skagway Airport has one runway designated 2/20 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,550 by 75 feet. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 12,500 aircraft operations, an average of 34 per day: 86% air taxi and 14% general aviation; the airport does have a small passenger building at the south end. Skagway is known as a windy place. In the summer the wind blows from the south and can be quite strong and gusty. In the winter the wind blows from the north; the airport is situated in a north-south direction and against the west side of the valley next to the Skagway River.

There have been a number of fatal accidents over the past decades by owned aircraft owners who did not understand the tight constraints of the path of landings and takeoffs. It is wise to talk to an experienced pilot from one of the airlines to understand the issues. There have rarely. At the south end, in the summer, there is a commercial helicopter tourist company that flies multiple craft throughout the day. Seaplanes have landed in the ocean and taxied to the small boat harbor, but a new wave-wall, constructed a few years ago makes that option more difficult; the wind can make the ocean choppy at times. The following airlines offer scheduled passenger service at this airport: Skagway Seaplane Base List of airports in Alaska Alaska FAA airport diagram Topographic map from USGS The National Map Resources for this airport: FAA airport information for SGY AirNav airport information for PAGY ASN accident history for SGY FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker NOAA/NWS latest weather observations for PAGY SkyVector aeronautical chart for SGY

Jacob Vandenberg Brower was a prolific writer of the Upper Midwest region of the United States who championed the location and protection of the utmost headwaters of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. He was moved to Minnesota. In 1862 he served with Henry Hastings Sibley during wars against the Sioux in Minnesota. After the war he was County County Attorney for Todd County, Minnesota; the City of Browerville, Minnesota is named in his honor. Browser was buried in the North Star Cemetery in Minnesota, his monument recognizes him as the founder of the Minnesota State Park system. In 1888 acting as surveyor he visited Lake Itasca to settle a dispute over the source of the Mississippi River; the issue was whether Nicollet Creek at the southern tip of the Lake Itasca and flows into the lake was the official start of the Mississippi. Brower followed the stream through ponds to Lake Hernando de Soto. Brower spent five months on Lake Itasca and suggested that since he believed that the Nicollet Creek was intermittent stream that it should not qualify as the source.

Brower was to lead a campaign to stop logging around Lake Itasca by companies owned by Friedrich Weyerhäuser. On April 20, 1891 the state legislature by a margin of one approved the plans for a state park; the official visitor center for the park is now called the Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center and Brower is referred to as the "Father of Lake Itasca." In the late 1800s he questioned the conventional wisdom that Meriwether Lewis had discovered the true source of the Missouri River on August 12, 1805, above Lemhi Pass on the Continental Divide at the source of Trail Creek. Studying maps, he said the source should be 100 miles further away at the source of Hell Roaring Creek at about 8,800 feet on Mount Jefferson in the Centennial Mountains on the Montana side of the Continental Divide. In 1888 he visited the site of Brower's Spring and left a metal tablet with his name and date where he believed the source to be located. In 1896 he published his findings "The Missouri: Its Utmost Source."Both sources drain into the Jefferson River which combines with the Madison River to form the Missouri at Missouri Headwaters State Park.

Brower's Map of Lake Itasca