CARNEADES
, Greek philosopher: b.
Cyrene, Africa, about 214
B.C.
; d. 129
B.C.
The
date of his birth is uncertain. Cicero states be
was 90 years old at the time of his death, which
would place his date of birth in 219
B.C.
He
studied first under Diogenes the Stoic, but
subsequently attended the lectures of Egesinus,
who explained the doctrines of Arcesilaus; and
succeeding his master in the chair of the
Academy, he restored its reputation by softening
the prevailing pyrrhonism and admitting
practical probabilities. The doctrine of Carneades
specifically was, that “as the senses, the
understanding, and the imagination frequently
deceive us, they cannot be the infallible judges of
truth, but that from the impression made by
the senses we infer appearances of truth, which,
with respect to the conduct of life, are a sufficient
guide.” He was a strenuous opposer of
Chrysippus, and attacked with great vigor the
system of theology of the Stoics. He was an
advocate of free-will against the fate of the
same sect and urged just the same difficulties
in reconciling divine prescience with the freedom
of human actions as have divided some
contending sects of Christianity. One of the most
distinguished events of his life was his being
joined in an embassy to Rome with Diogenes
the Stoic and Critolaus the Peripatetic, in order
to gain the mitigation of a fine levied by the
Roman Senate on the Athenians. This extraordinary
embassy was successful, and Carneades
so captivated the people by his
eloquence, one day delivering a harangue in praise
of justice, and on the next proving it to be an
odious institution, that Cato the censor, fearful
of its effect on the Roman youth, persuaded the
Senate to send the philosophers back to their
schools without delay. In his latter years
Carneades became totally blind and continually
complained of the shortness of life, lamenting
that the same nature which composed the human
frame could dissolve it. Consult Hicks, ‘Stoic
and Epicurean’ (New York 1910).