The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word KIERKEGAARD
K
I
E
R
K
E
G
A
A
R
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "philosopher" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case philosopher = kierkegaard.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.