DIOGENES OF SINOPE MEMD HOW TO

Or when Diogenes offends his fellow citizens because he masturbates in public and, when reproached, replies that he wished his hunger also went away by a simple rub of the appropriate bodily part! He throws away the drinking cup he was carrying in his knapsack muttering that even a youth was wiser than he himself had managed to become. Hence famous episodes in Diogenes’s life, as when he gets mad at himself after he observes a young man drinking from a fountain with his cupped hands. The Cynics, though, went further and developed a highly minimalist life style according to which very few, if any, things are necessary for human welfare and, most importantly, most social conventions get in the way of a virtuous existence. The Stoics understood human nature as that of a rational and social animal, and therefore taught that a good human life is one in which we strive to use reason in order to improve our relations with others. The Epicureans meant by this that it is natural, and fundamental, for humans to seek pleasure and stay away from pain, the two crucial precepts of their philosophy.

One of a kind, one might justifiably say.Ĭynicism did have a direct connection with Socrates, as the founder of the sect, Antisthenes, was a student of sage from Athens (and, interestingly, of the Sophist Gorgias.) Cynicism shared with a number of other Hellenistic philosophies the notion that we should “ live according to nature ,” though the Cynics certainly took that motto far more literally than either the Stoics or the Epicureans.įor all three schools Nature is our guide in ethical matters (so much for Hume’s idea that one can’t derive an ought from an is !). Usher for Princeton Press’s Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series, features the well known antics of Diogenes of Sinope, but also profiles a number of other Cynics, arguably the most maddening and interesting of the schools of Greco-Roman philosophy.

DIOGENES OF SINOPE MEMD HOW TO

How to Say No : An Ancient Guide to the Art of Cynicism, translated by M.D. Plato, for his part, referred to Diogenes as “Socrates gone mad,” which, in a rather backhanded way, may be considered a compliment. The story goes that Plato attempted to arrive at a definition of “man,” coming up with something along the lines of “an animal that is bipedal and featherless.” Diogenes showed up with a chicken from which he had plucked the feathers and triumphantly declared: “Here is Plato’s man.” Talk about exploiting the power of sarcasm in order to make a point. That possessions and dependence or fame are by no means paths to happiness for the Cynics is clearly expressed in the following quote, 'When one happily praised Callisthenes, saying that he led a life of wealth and splendor with Alexander, he replied to Diogenes, 'The unfortunate one, who only has to be commanded to every meal by Alexander.Plato and Diogenes the Cynic famously didn’t get along. Here we can clearly see the tendency to self-sufficiency, the principle of the Cynics to increase their material asceticism to a kind of autarky. He is even said to have begged a statue for a gift in order to practice the art of having something knocked off. Antisthenes, the teacher of Diogenes, is said to have carried only a stick and a cross-bag, which Diogenes tried to surpass by even throwing away his cup when he observed a child drinking from his folded palms he did the same with his bowl. The greatest contrast to the affluence of the Athenian city-state was probably the ascetic lifestyle of the Cynics. Nevertheless, they stand out because of a new radicalism that, especially in ancient Athens, had to lead to an absolute affront to bourgeois life.

In this point they even have similarities with Socrates. The Cynics, in fact, did not write down doctrines and theories because they were entirely practical. The anecdotal tradition of his alleged deeds, which can be read in Diogenes Laertios and Epitktetus, undoubtedly contributed to this.

A major break came only with the Cynics, of whom Diogenes of Sinope, above all others, achieved enduring fame. The meme shows the order of teachers and students of the most famous Greek philosophers, whereby Aristotle was rather regarded as the educator of Alexander the Great.

Diogenes of sinope memd