Philanthropy

==Etymology==
[[File:Herodes Atticus - bust - Athens Museum.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Herodes Atticus]], a Greek philanthropist of [[Ancient Rome]] active during {{CE|the 2nd century}}]]
The word ''philanthropy'' comes {{etymology|grc|φιλανθρωπία (philanthrōpía)|love of [[Humanity (virtue)|humanity]]}}, from {{transliteration|grc|philo-}} 'to love, be fond of' and {{transliteration|grc|anthrōpos}} 'humankind, mankind'.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/philanthropy |title=Philanthropy |website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]}}</ref> In {{CE|the second century}}, [[Plutarch]] used the Greek concept of {{transliteration|grc|philanthrôpía}} to describe superior human beings.

During the [[Middle Ages]], {{transliteration|grc|philanthrôpía}} was superseded in Europe by the [[Cardinal virtues|Christian virtue]] of ''[[Charity (Christian virtue)|charity]]'' ([[Latin]]: {{lang|la|caritas}}) in the sense of selfless love, valued for [[Salvation in Christianity|salvation]] and escape from [[purgatory]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Aquinas|first=Thomas|url=https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3023.htm|title=Summa Theologiae|chapter=Charity, considered in itself|at=Secunda Secundae Partis, Q. 23}}</ref> [[Thomas Aquinas]] held that "the habit of charity extends not only to the love of God, but also to the love of our neighbor".<ref>{{cite book|last=Aquinas|first=Thomas|url=https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3025.htm|title=Summa Theologiae|chapter=The object of charity|at=Secunda Secundae Partis, Q. 25}}</ref>

Sir [[Francis Bacon]] considered ''philanthrôpía'' to be synonymous with "goodness",  correlated with the [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] conception of virtue as consciously instilled habits of good behaviour. [[Samuel Johnson]] simply defined philanthropy as "love of mankind; good nature".<ref>{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Samuel|title=[[A Dictionary of the English Language]]|year=1755|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/johnsons_dictionary_1755/page/n1519/mode/1up|chapter=Philanthropy|volume=I|location=London}}</ref> This definition still survives today and is often cited more gender-neutrally as the "love of humanity."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blueandgreentomorrow.com/features/philanthropy-is-what-sustains-the-charitable-sector-not-money/ |first=Mitchell|last= Kutney|title= Philanthropy is what sustains the charitable sector, not money |publisher=Blue & Green Tomorrow |date=2013-06-18 |access-date=2014-11-08}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2016}}