One book exploring the phenomenon is Everybody knows: cynicism in America by William Chaloupka, while lectures by Jordan Pedersen engaging with the issue can be found here, along with other relevant videos. Modern and contemporary cynicism tends to be more purely negative, and is sometimes even associated with nihilism. He lived a life of great poverty, begging for money and. Diogenes felt that conduct demonstrated virtue more than theory. He was one of the founders of the Cynic philosophy, which advocated for the rejection of extravagance and the promotion of living in virtue. You can read his “Demonax”, “Peregrinus” and other works like “The Cynic” here Diogenes was a Greek philosopher who was also known as Diogenes the Cynic. Lucian’s works were very popular from the Renaissance. He did, however, admire Demonax (another contemporary Cynic), along with Diogenes. Lucian was “cynical” in a more modern sense, especially when he wrote character assassinations of contemporary Cynics, like Peregrinus. Would Diogenes or Zeno eat it?Įpictetus, a later Roman-era Stoic, idealizes Diogenes as the perfect “Stoic” and human being: his virtues and life-style were ideal, he thought, even if possibly too difficult for most people. This included a simple diet, and they became known as great fans of lentil soup, which is cheap, easy to make, full of fibre, great tasting, and in all, healthy for body and soul! You can find a recipe for “Zeno’s lentil soup” here. The ancient Cynics sought to simplify their lives as much as possible. Here is a short piece about Zeno, the Cynic background to Stoicism, and how a Stoic should never succumb to road rage! Zeno, founder of Stoicism, was said to have written his political treatise, The Republic, “on the dog’s tail,” and with his work Cynic values of simplicity and self-reliance would become the core of Stoic ethics. Here is a comprehensive collection of ancient sources One of the most famous stories of antiquity pictures Diogenes telling Alexander the Great to “stand out of my sun.” You can read about this incident, and its long afterlife here. Cynicism was a School of Philosophy that was founded in Athens by Antisthenes (455366 BCE), a student of Socrates. Find out more about him and them here, or by listening to the BBC podcast by Melville Bragg. Diogenes was born about 413 BCE and died in 323 BCE, the same year, and, at least according to legend, the same day as Alexander the Great, who had an unrequited admiration for Diogenes. What is the relation between the two-ancient Cynicism and modern cynicism?ĭiogenes was the most influential of the ancient Cynics. The contemporary world too is said to be pervaded by cynicism, towards governments, media and business for example. Cynicism was one of the most widespread philosophies of the ancient world.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |