 Sturm encountered the eclectic method during his one-year stay in Leiden in 1660 probably inspired by Henricus Bornius. Both the preface of Sturm’s Physica Electiva and his disputation De Philosophia Sectaria &amp; Electiva (DSE; in his 1686 Philosophia Eclectica) held in 1679 are pleas for eclecticism, which contrasts sharply with sectarian philosophy. According to Sturm, the whole of philosophers — bracketing sceptics and doubters (sceptios ac dubitatores) — can be subsumed under two classes: sectarians and eclectics (DSE: 3).