Eclecticism is the philosophical stance that, without prior opposition, analysis, and consideration of things, compares and relates them in order to find the best, with the goal of highlighting the one that is most valuable of acceptance.
However, this clear and concise definition of truth-seeking is often overlooked in the common use of the term and in the superficial interpretation of the concept itself. Therefore, an “eclectic stance” is often understood as typical of fearful and indecisive souls with limited perspectives who see things but cannot grasp their depth and perspective. For them, eclecticism is a useless dialectical debate and dialogues that revolve in circles without risking and reachinga useful definition.
If one of these followers of false eclecticism were faced with two people – one claiming that two plus two equals four and the other claiming that two plus two equals six – they would extricate themselves from the situation by saying that two plus two could also be five. Timid and weak-willed, fundamentally selfish, they risk nothing. to defend what is true, but is prone to destructive criticism of all claims, no matter how logical they may be.
Today, more than at any historical moment, true eclecticism that is logically and conceptually sound is needed. In fundamental matters, artificial and comfortable “centrism” is a cowardly stance and a sign of ignorance.
Common sense tells us that no one would accept a car that sometimes works or a moderately fresh egg, or a clock that sometimes goes too fast and sometimes too slow… Important things need to be defined: a person is either alive or dead, or loves or doesn’t love, or it is day or night. Eclecticism does not mean an indefinite approach to reality. If it is correct, eclecticism represents a doorway to truth; once that truth is discovered, it should be exposed, confirmed, and proclaimed, regardless of what others may think about it.
Eclecticism is not eternal Cartesian doubt, but a Platonic confirmation acquired through work; it is not Kafkaesque anguish, but Schopenhauer’s will to live; it is not apathetic and indecisive contemplation. Hippies, already a historical awareness of young people who know why they live and why they die.
When the New Testament rejects those who are lukewarm, it does so for a reason. Food is cooked in hot water, cold water quenches thirst, but lukewarm water is only good for warm compresses and stomach cleansing.
In this world of conflict, where materialism with its various faces attacks everything valuable and good, false eclectics are knowingly or unknowingly its helpers. They are its most dangerous collaborators because they attack the vertical forces of true philosophy and true eclecticism with their pseudo-pacifistic and pseudo-philosophical attitudes.
We need to be eclectics, but in the true sense of the word, active seekers of truth; those who, when they find the truth, explore and announce it, not allowing intellectual “dwarfocracy,” comfort, or fashion.