ECLECTICS. 



327 



Eclectks. nion among the Alexandrian philosophers, from the 

 N """Y" >1 ' commencement of their schools ; had particularly pre- 

 vailed, (as appears from Philo, who was himself an ec- 

 lectic,) about the beginning of the Christian era ; and 

 was followed, in a later period, by Plutarch, Pliny, Ga- 

 len, and many others. Between the endless contests 

 of the dogmatists, and the dark uncertainty of the scep- 

 tics, it was by no means an irrational scheme to sepa- 

 rate from every former system its purest and best sup- 

 ported tenets, and to form them into a new institute of 

 philosophical and religious truth. The idea was pecu- 

 liarly acceptable to those Heathen philosophers, who 

 felt the growing ascendency of Christianity ; and who 

 endeavoured to support the declining influence of their 

 own schools, by incorporating Christian principles into 

 their new system. The first, however, who attempted 

 to establish a distinct sect upon this scheme, appears to 

 have been Potamo of Alexandria, who is supposed by 

 some to have flourished during the reigns of Augustus 

 and Tiberius ; but, according to others, about the close 

 of the second century. Nothing more is known of his 

 system, but that lie endeavoured to reconcile the tenets 

 of Plato with those of other philosophers ; and it is ge- 

 gerally concluded, that his attempt to found a school 

 upon the eclectic principle proved unsuccessful. The 

 eclectic philosophy received its proper form and esta- 

 blishment from Ammonius, another philosopher of 

 Alexandria, who flourished about the beginning of the 

 third century, and who, from his former profession of a 

 porter, (5-*K9<>fo;,) was simamed Sacca. (See AMMO- 

 NIUS.) This philosopher, however, and his followers, 

 ought properly to be considered, like their precursor 

 Potamo, as merely modern Platonists ; and there is a 

 gross impropriety in giving them the name of eclectics. 

 Instead of selecting a little from each, he professed to 

 unite all sects in one. He maintained, that the great 

 principles of philosophical and religious truth were to be 

 found equally in all the different systems ; that they 

 differed from each other only in their method of express- 

 ing their tenets, except a few points of minor import- 

 ance; and that, by a proper inteq>retation of their respec- 

 tive sentiments, they might easily be united into one body. 

 He considered the ancient philosophy of the East, pre- 

 served in his opinion uncorrupted by Plato, as the pri- 

 mitive standard, and actual substance, of all the reli- 

 gious systems in the world ; and affirmed, that to re- 

 move the errors which in all nations had been more or 

 less blended with this ancient theology, and thus to re- 

 store them to their originnl purity, was the great design 

 of Jesus Christ in descending upon earth. Upon this 

 principle, as all the sects were fundamentally right, 

 there was no occasion to select any thing from each ; 

 and it was even of little consequence which of them 

 was chosen, as the enquirer, by merely removing the 

 supervening errors, w.i sure to find in any one of them 

 the true d.x-trine ;.t the bottom. As Ammonius left no 

 writings of his own, and as he taught his more sublime 

 mysteries only to a few select disciples, under a solemn 

 injunction of secrecy, it is scarcely possible to ascer- 

 tain what he considered as the original and uncorrupt- 

 ed (system of truth ; and though several of lii< follow- 

 ers afterwards divulged the secrets of his school, their 

 expositions are so full of obscurity, and so mixed with 

 dogmas of their own, that the real system of their foun- 

 der cannot be separattd w!;h any degree of certainty 

 from so confused a mass. The leading object of the 

 whole sect was to obstruct the progress of the Christian 

 religion, by forming such a combination of the prin- 

 cipal tenet* of the Heathen and Christian schools, as 

 might confirm the former in their attachment to the old 



superstitions, and reconcile the latter to the doctrines Eclectics.^ 

 of Paganism. Hence, on the one hand, they repre- **~~Y~*^ 

 sented Jesus Christ as the friend of God, who came 

 not to abolish, but to purify the ancient religions ; in- 

 corporated into their system many of the peculiar doc- 

 trines of revelation, and even adopted, on many occa- 

 sions, the language of the Christian Fathers. On the 

 other hand, they endeavoured to conceal the absurdi- 

 ties of Paganism under the veil of allegory ; and re- 

 presented the numerous train of Heathen divinities, as 

 celestial ministers emanating from the Supreme Deity, 

 who was himself worshipped in the adoration which 

 they received. The philosophy of Plato, already unit- 

 ed with that of Pythagoras, formed the basis of the 

 new system ; and with these doctrines they attempted 

 to blend those of Aristotle, of the Stoics, and of al- 

 most every system except that of Epicurus, whose me- 

 chanical principles of nature could never be made to 

 coalesce with the doctrines of Platonism. Not satisfied 

 with the intuitive contemplation of intelligibles, and 

 especially of the first intelligence, which Plato pro- 

 posed as the summit of human felicity, they aspir- 

 ed after a sort of deification of the human mind ; 

 adopted from the Oriental philosophy the system of 

 emanation, one of an indefinite series of spiritual na- 

 tures derived from the supreme source; and, be- 

 sides supposing, -that the soul of man, by various 

 stages of purification, might at length reach a mysteri- 

 ous union with the divine nature, they conceived, that, 

 even in this life, it might be prepared, by previous dis- 

 cipline, to enjoy, in ecstacy, an intuitive vision of the 

 Deity. Upon such fanciful foundations, they construct- 

 ed systems of metaphysics, morals, and theology, of 

 which it is impossible to convey any intelligible idea, 

 and which indeed seem never to have been properly 

 fixed or defined in the minds of their authors. Their 

 great principle, also, of producing an apparent harmony 

 among systems essentially different, necessarily com- 

 pelled them to have recourse to vague expressions, fan- 

 ciful interpretations, and subtle distinctions, till they 

 at length involved themselves and their readers in end- 

 less subtleties and impenetrable obscurity. 



After the death of Ammonius, the system was com- 

 pleted by his disciple and successor Plotinus ; taught 

 also by Porphyry, and Jamblichus ; adopted by Longi- 

 nus, Eustathius, Julian the apostate, Hierocles, Chry- 

 santhus, &c. In the reign of Julian, it was publicly 

 professed at Athens, and, by the emperor's appointment, 

 was taught there by Chrysanthus fast mentioned, who 

 was succeeded by Plutarch the son of Nestorius, Syrian, 

 Proclus, Marinus, Isidores, Zenodotus, &c. It was sup- 

 ported by the celebrated Hypatia, Macrobius, Ammi- 

 anus Marcellinus, &c. but expired among the Pagans 

 in the 7th century. It received, even from its com- 

 mencement, the approbation of many eminent teachers 

 among the Christians, especially Athenagoras, Pantae- 

 nus, and Clemens Alexandrinus ; and became, through 

 many succeeding ages, a fruitful source of confusion 

 and corruption in the church of Christ. But, in the 

 course of the 17th century, arose the true eclectic phi- 

 losophy, which admits of no sectarian subdivisions, re- 

 jects prejudices of every description, renounces all sub- 

 mission to celebrated names or ancient sects, subjects 

 the opinions of all former philosophers to the strict 

 scrutiny of reason, and admits no conclusions but what 

 may be clearly deduced from principles founded on the 

 nature of things, or discovered by actual experience. 

 Of this method, the principal promoters were Bacon, 

 De Cartes, Leibnitz, Malebranche, Locke, Grotius, 

 Seldcn, Puffcndorf, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Boyle, 



