1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Antiochus of Ascalon

ANTIOCHUS OF ASCALON (1st century B.C.), Greek philosopher. His philosophy consisted in an attempt to reconcile the doctrines of his teachers Philo of Larissa and Mnesarchus the Stoic. Against the scepticism of the former, he held that the intellect has in itself a sufficient test of truth; against Mnesarchus, that happiness, though its main factor is virtue, depends also on outward circumstances. This electicism is known as the Fifth Academy (see Academy, Greek). His writings are lost, and we are indebted for information to Cicero (Acad. Pr. ii. 43), who studied under him at Athens, and Sextus Empiricus (Pyrrh. hyp. i. 235). Antiochus lectured also in Rome and Alexandria.

See R. Hoyer, De Antiocho Ascalonita (Bonn, 1883).