Academics

Academics a name given to such philosophers as adopted the doctrines of Plato. They were so called from the Academia, a grove near Athens, where they studied and lectured. The Academics are divided into those of the first academy, who taught the doctrines of Plato in their original purity; those of the second, or middle academy, who differed materially from the first, and inclined to skepticism; and those of the new academy, who pursued probability as the only attainable wisdom. The Academics and Epicureans (q.v.) were the prevailing philosophical sects at the time of Christ's birth. — Tennemann, Hist. Philosophy §§ 127-138.