ECLECTICISM

As you may have noticed by now, the Ancient Greeks had many great ideas—many of which, although contradictory, were pertinent in some respects. “Eclecticism,” which, in Greek, means “to choose,” is the selection of elements from different systems of thought, without regard to possible contradictions between the systems. Eclecticism differs from syncretism, which tries to combine various systems while resolving conflicts. Many Ancient Roman philosophers, especially Cicero, and the Neoplatonists were known for eclecticism.

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single philosophical school or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.

The name, eclecticism, was first generally used in the first century BCE. Stoicism and Epicureanism had made the search for pure truth subordinate to the attainment of practical virtue and happiness. Skepticism had denied that pure truth was possible to discover. Eclecticism sought to reach by selection the highest possible degree of probability—understanding that it is hopeless to seek absolute truth.

In Greek philosophy, the best known Eclectics were the Stoic’s Panaetius, Posidonius. The New Academic (Neoplatonists), Carnaedes (155 BCE.) and Philo of Larissa (75 BCE.), were also eclectics. Among the Romans, Cicero, whose cast of mind made him always doubtful and uncertain of his own attitude, was thoroughly eclectic, uniting the Peripatetic, Stoic, and New Academic doctrines, and seeking the probable. The same general line was followed by Varro, and in the next century the Stoic Seneca propounded a philosophical system largely based on eclecticism.

Panaetius (c.185–109 BC), of Rhodes, was a Greek Stoic philosopher. In c.144 he went to Rome. He also traveled to Egypt and Asia. After his return c.138 he divided his time between Rome and Athens. In 129 he succeeded Antipater as head of the Stoic school in Athens, and there he died. He adapted Stoic doctrine to fit Roman ideals, dwelling on the active virtues of magnanimity and benevolence rather than the passive virtues of indifference to misfortune and danger and of avoiding wrongdoing; he emphasized the subordination of private ambition to the good of the state, conformity to the same standard of virtue in public and private life, and the suppression of self-indulgence. He was a powerful influence on Roman thought.

Posīdōnius (c.135–c.50 BC), of Apamea in Syria, historian, scientist, and philosopher, spent most of his life at Rhodes and became head of the Stoic school there. He was a polymath (a person of great or varied learning) who epitomized the learning of the Hellenistic age and transmitted some part of it to the Roman world. For several years he studied philosophy under Panaetius at Athens.

Philo of Larissa (160-c. 80 BC) was the last undisputed head of the Academy of Athens (which was founded by Plato, about 387 BC). Philo studied under a pupil of Carneades, before succeeding Clitomachus as head of the Academy in 110/109 BC. Around 88 BC he left Athens for Rome, effectively ending the Academy. He maintained the sceptical doctrines of Carneades, modified by the admission of those things that deserve some kind of confidence as a basis of action. His claim that this scepticism represented the true legacy of Plato prompted the break from the Academy by Antiochus that gave rise to Middle Platonism. Philo's most distinguished pupil and disciple was Cicero.

In the late period of Greek philosophy there appears an eclectic system consisting of a compromise between the Neo-Pythagoreans and the various Platonic sects. Still another school is that of Philo Iudaeus, who at Alexandria, in the first century CE. interpreted the Old Testament allegorically, and tried to harmonize it with selected doctrines of Greek philosophy. Neo-Platonism, the last product of Greek speculation, was also a fusion of Greek philosophy with eastern religion. Its chief representatives were Plotinus (230 CE.), Porphyrius (275 CE.), Iamblichus (300 CE.), and Proclus (450 CE.). The desire of this school was to attain right relations between God and humans, and was thus religious.