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system of thought made up of views borrowed from various other systems. Where the characteristic doctrines of a philosophy are not thus merely adopted, but are the modified products of a blending of the systems from which it takes its rise, the philosophy is. not properly eclectic. Eclecticism always tends to See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring up See also:

RAFTER

rafter a See also:

period of vigorous constructive See also:

SPECULATION

speculation, especially in the later stages of a controversy between thinkers of pre-eminent ability. Their respective followers, and more especially cultured laymen, lacking the capacity for See also:

ORIGINAL

original See also:

WORK

work, seeking for a See also:

SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution in some See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of See also:

COMPROMISE (pronounced compromize; through Fr. from Lat. compromittere)

compromise, and possibly failing to grasp the essentials of the controversy, take See also:

REFUGE

refuge in acombination of those elements in the opposing systems which seem to, afford a See also:

sound See also:

PRACTICAL

practical theory. Since these combinations have often been as illogical as facile, " eclecticism " has generally acquired a somewhat contemptuous significance. At the same See also:

time, the essence of eclecticism is the refusal to follow blindly one set of formulae and conventions, coupled with a determinatignto recognize and select from all See also:

SOURCES

sources those elements which are See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good or true in the abstract, or in practical affairs most useful ad hoc. Theoretically, therefore, eclecticism is a perfectly sound method, and the contemptuous significance which the word has acquired is due partly to the fact that many eclectics have been intellectual trimmers, sceptics or dilettanti, and partly, to See also:

mere partisanship. On the other See also:

hand, eclecticism in the See also:

SPHERE (Gr. vclsa?pa, a ball or globe)

sphere of abstract thought is open to this See also:

main objection that, in so far as every philosophic system is, at least in theory, an integral whole, the See also:

COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination of principles from hostile theories must result in an incoherent patchwork. Thus it might be argued that there can be no logical combination of elements from See also:

Christian See also:

ethics, with its divine See also:

SANCTION (Lat. sanctia, from sancire, to decree or ordain)

sanction, and purely intuitional or evolutionary ethical theories, where the sanction is essentially different in quality. It is in practical affairs that the eclectic or undogmatic spirit is most valuable, and also least dangerous. In the 2nd See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century B.C. a remarkable tendency toward eclecticism began to See also:

MANIFEST (Lat. manifestus, clear, open to view)

manifest itself. The longing to arrive at the one explanation of all things, which had inspired the older philosophers, became less See also:

EARNEST (probably a corruption of the obsolete arles or erles, adapted from Lat. equivalent arrha, due to a confusion with the adjective " earnest," serious, O. Eng. eornust, cognate with Ger. ernst)

earnest; the belief, indeed, that any such explanation was attainable began to fail.

Thus men cameto. adopt from all systems the doctrines which best pleased them. In See also:

PANAETIUS (c. 185-18o to I10-108 B.C.)

Panaetius we find one of the earliest examples of the modification of Stoicism by the eclectic spirit; about the same time the same spirit displayed itself among the See also:

PERIPATETICS (from Gr. aEptIrareiv, to walk about)

Peripatetics. In See also:

Rome philosophy, never became more than a secondary pursuit; naturally, therefore, the See also:

ROMAN

Roman thinkers were for the most See also:

PART

part eclectic. Of this tendency See also:

CICERO

Cicero is the most striking See also:

ILLUSTRATION

illustration —his philosophical See also:

WORKS

works consisting of an See also:

AGGREGATION (from the Lat. ad, to, gregare, to collect together)

aggregation, with little or no blending, of doctrines borrowed from Stoicism, Peripateticism, and the See also:

SCEPTICISM (o-Kesrroµai, I consider, reflect, hesitate, doubt)

scepticism of the See also:

MIDDLE

Middle See also:

Academy. In the last See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage of See also:

Greek philosophy the eclectic spirit produced remarkable results outside the philosophies of those properly called eclectics. Thinkers See also:

CHOSE (Fr. for " thing ")

chose their doctrines from many sources—from the venerated teaching of See also:

Aristotle and See also:

PLATO

Plato, from that of the Pythagoreans and of the See also:

STOICS

Stoics, from the old Greek See also:

MYTHOLOGY

mythology, and from the Jewish and other See also:

ORIENTAL

Oriental systems. Yet it must be observed that See also:

NEOPLATONISM

Neoplatonism, See also:

GNOSTICISM (Gr. yvwvcs, knowledge)

Gnosticism, and the other systems which are grouped under the name Alexandrian, were not truly eclectic, consisting, as they did, not of a mere See also:

SYNCRETISM (Gr. o'vyKprlrurw51, from aim and Kep&vvv,uc, mingle or blend, or, according to Plutarch, from en, and Kprlri'ecv, to combine against a common enemy after the manner of the cities of Crete)

syncretism of Greek and Oriental thought, but of a mutual modification of the two. It is true that several of the Neoplatonists professed to accept all the teaching both of Plato and of Aristotle, whereas, in fact, they arbitrarily, interpreted Aristotle so as to make him agree with Plato, and Plato so as to make his teachings consistent with the Oriental doctrines which they had adopted, in the same manner ' as the schoolmen attempted to reconcile Aristotle with the doctrines of the See also:

church. Among the See also:

early Christians, See also:

Clement of See also:

Alexandria, See also:

ORIGEN (c. 185-c. 254)

Origen and See also:

SYNESIUS (c. 373-c. 414)

Synesius were eclectics in philosophy. The eclectics of See also:

MODERN

modern philosophy are too numerous to name. Of See also:

ITALIAN

Italian philosophers the eclectics See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a large proportion. Among the See also:

German we may mention See also:

Wolf and his followers, as well as Mendelssohn, J.

A. See also:

Eberhard, See also:

ERNST, HEINRICH WILHELM (1814–1865)

Ernst Platner, and to some extent .See also:

Schelling, whom, however, it would be incorrect to describe as merely an eclectic. In the first See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place, his speculations were largely original; and in the second place, it is not so much that his views of any time were borrowed from a number of philosophers, as that his thinking was influenced first by one philosopher, then by another. In the 19th century the term " eclectic " came to he applied specially to a number of See also:

French philosophers who differed considerably from one another. Of these the earliest were See also:

PIERRE

Pierre See also:

Paul Royer-Collard, who was mainly a follower of See also:

Thomas See also:

Reid, and See also:

Maine de Biran; but the name is still more appropriately given to the school of which the most distinguished members are See also:

Victor See also:

Cousin, See also:

Theodore See also:

Jouffroy, J. P. See also:

DAMIRON, JEAN PHILIBERT (1794-1862)

Damiron, See also:

Barthelemy St Hilaire, C. F. M. de See also:

REMUSAT, JEAN PIERRE ABEL (1788-1832)

Remusat, Adolphe See also:

Garnier and Ravaisson-See also:

MOLLIEN, NICOLAS FRANCOIS, COUNT (1758-1850)

Mollien. Cousin, whose views varied considerably at different periods of his See also:

LIFE

life, not only adopted freely what pleased him in the doctrines of Pierre Laromiguiere, Royer-Collard and Maine de Biran, of See also:

KANT, IMMANUEL (1724-1804)

Kant, Schelling and See also:

HEGEL, GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH (1770-1831)

Hegel, and of the See also:

ancient philosophies, but expressly maintained that the eclectic is the only method now open to the philosopher, whose See also:

FUNCTION

function thus resolves itself into See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical selection and nothing more. " Each system," he asserted, " is not false, but incomplete, and in reuniting all imcomplete systems, we should have a See also:

COMPLETE

complete philosophy, adequate to the totality of consciousness." This assumes that every philosophical truth is already contained somewhere in the existing systems. If, however, as it would surely be rash to deny, there still remains philosophical truth undiscovered; but discoverable by human intelligence, it is evident that eclecticism is not the only philosophy.

Eclecticism gained See also:

GREAT

great popularity, and, partly owing to Cousin's position as See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister of public instruction, became the authorized system in the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief seats of learning in See also:

France, where it has given a most remarkable impulse to the study of the See also:

HISTORY

history of philosophy.

End of Article: ECLECTICISM (from Gr. fr)

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