ACADEMICS, a name commonly employed to dis tinguish the disciples of the school of Plato among the ancient sects I philosophy. It originated from the ircumstance ol Plato ha ing chosen as the theatre of his instructions a public grove in the vicinity ol Athens, called the Academy, from Hecademus, who had bequeath ed it to his lellow-citizens for the purpose of gymnastic exercises. Upon this account, the doctrine of the Pla tonic school was called the ?leademical Philosophy, and those who adopted it, ?leademies.
The peculiar characteristic by which the academical philosophy was distinguished from all other ancient sects, was a certain degree of doubt, or scepticism, concerning the original principles of knowledge. The scepticism of Plato, however, was much more moderate than that of some of his successors in the academic ehair ; insomuch, that the doctrines of the academy have been distinguished into three successive schools, or eras, each varying from the scepticism of its prede cessor, and denominated the Old :leadenly, the Middle .leademy, and the .Veqv dcadenly.
If Plato doubted concerning the truths which are in titled to implicit admission, it was not in order to damp the ardour of the inquisitive examiner of nature, but to guard against the false confidence and precipitate deci sion, which are so fatal to the progress of true science. He had learned from his master Socrates, the advan tages which may be derived from putting every thing to the test of close and unprejudiced reasoning. The great prevalence of sophistry in the age in which he lived, convinced him or the facility with which the mind imposes upon itself, and substitutes the false glosses of its fancy for the pure and immutable, though recondite truths of nature. He, therefore, resolved to distrust the impressions which the ordinary contemplation ol objects excited ; and seek after those more secret laws and con necting causes in the order of things, which escape the penetration of the vulgar ; while they constitute the true province and noblest pursuit of the philosopher. That Plato ascribed the uncertainty which accompanies the search after truth, not to the nature of things themselves, but to the imperfection of the human faculties, is evident from the following passage of his Ph,edo : " If we are unable to discover truth, this must be owing to one of two reasons; either that there is no truth in the nature of things themselves, or that the mind of man is, from some radical defect, unable to discover it. Upon the latter supposition, the uncertainty of human opinions may be fully accounted for; and therefore we ought to ascribe all our errors to the defectiveness of our own minds, and not to affirm, gratuitously, that there is any defect in the nature of things. Truth is frequently difficult of
access ; and therefore to arrive at it, we must proceed with caution and diffidence, examining carefully every step which we take ; yet, after all our efforts, we shall •tten find ourselves disappointed, and forced to sit down, e;mfessing our ignorance and our weakness." True science, according to the sublime conceptions of Plato, was conversant, not about those material forms and im perfect intelligences which we meet with in our daily intercourse with men ; but it investigates the nature of those purer and more perfect patterns, which were the models, or archetypes, after which all created beings were formed. These perfect exemplars he supposes to have existed from all eternity, and he calls them the Idea. of the great original Intelligence. As these cannot be perceived by the human senses, whatever knowledge we derive from that source is unsatisfactory and uncertain. Plato, therefore, must be admitted as maintaining that degree of scepticism which denies all paramount autho rity to the evidence of sense.
The tenets of the Academy, as originally promulgated by Plato, were taught in succession by his nephew Speusippus, his disciple Xenocrates, by Polemo, Gran tor, and Crates ; in whom the series of philosophers of the Old, or proper Academy, terminated. After the death of Crates, which happened about the middle of the third century before Christ, that innovation in the tenets of the school took place, which gave rise to the appellation of the Middle 4eadenzy. This innovation was made by Arcesilaus of JEolis ; a philosopher who, after having attended various philosophical schools, finally attached himself to that of Plato. He was of a gay and luxurious disposition, and inclined to treat the contentions of philosophers with more levity than be came a professed votary of science. He taught that although there may be a real certainty in the nature of things, yet every thing is uncertain to the human under standing ; and consequently, that all confident assertions arc absurd. lie admitted, that the testimony of the senses, and the authority of reason, might be sufficient for the ordinary conduct of life ; but denied that they were capable of ascertaining the real nature of things ;—a doctrine reconcileable, without much difficulty, to the assertion of Plato, that every kind of knowledge derived from sensible objects is uncertain ; and that the only true science is that which is employed upon the immu table objects of intelligence.