Eclecticism

Eclecticism (from other Greek, ἐκλέγω “I choose”) is a way to build a philosophical system by combining various provisions borrowed from other philosophical systems. This term was introduced into use by the 2nd-century Alexandrian philosopher Potamon , whom Diogen Laertius mentions at the end of his introduction to the treatise “On life, teachings and sayings of famous philosophers” ^[1] .

The eclectic direction, in the case when it approaches syncretism , that is, the unprincipled and methodical combination of opposing systems, marks the decline of philosophical creativity and appears in history, usually, after the well-known principle loses its power and dominant position in the minds of people. After Plato and Aristotle, eclecticism gradually spreads, until finally, in Alexandrian philosophy, it did not gain universal acceptance. The same thing is observed in Wolf’s philosophy with respect to Leibniz’s philosophy. In the XIX century, eclecticism was Victor Cousin and Jouffroy , who tried to combine the principles of German idealism with the principles of English empiricism ^[1] .

The criterion in determining the truth of the beginnings, which are trying to combine, is usually " common sense ". Although such a trend in philosophy does not hold water, it does not mean that all eclecticism must be condemned. Every system must reckon with firmly established facts and with true propositions, whatever philosophical school they belong to. This was well expressed by Leibniz, who asserted that "all systems of philosophy are right in what they claim, mistaking only what they deny." Expressing the desire to reckon with all possible directions and by criticism to find in them the grain of truth, eclecticism, therefore, can denote the requirement of breadth of vision in justifying its own system ^[1] .