Diogenes

Philosopher

Born: c. 412/403 b. c.e.; Sinope, Paphlygonia, Asia Minor (now in Turkey) Died: c. 324/321 b. c.e.; probably Corinth, Greece Also known as: Diogenes of Sinope; Diogenes the Cynic Category: Philosophy

Life Diogenes (di-AHJ-uh-neez) was a major early Cynic philosopher. Cynicism (“doggishness”) predated Diogenes and may be discerned in Plato’s portrait of Socrates and in the precepts espoused by Antisthenes, a notable figure in Socrates’ circle, who may or may not have been Diogenes’ mentor. However, Diogenes’ penchant for playing like a dog, flaunting the insult of “doggishness” embodied in the name of Cynicism as though it were a compliment, linked him permanently with the philosophy. The ancient biographical tradition relates that Diogenes fled to Athens after being exiled from Sinope, a prosperous Greek Black Sea trading metropolis, where he was involved in defrauding the currency, along with his father, an alleged financier. More data regarding Diogenes’ background and the details of this particular incident have not been preserved; the extant information largely consists of an assortment of aphoristic traditions contained in a treatise entitled Peri bifn dogmaton kai apophthegmaton ton en philosophia eudokimlsanton (third century c. e.; The Lives and Opinions of the Philosophers, 1853) and attributed to Diogenes Laertius, about whom exceedingly little is known.

Although all genuine early Cynic documents have been lost, it is still possible to create a profile of the ancient Cynic movement. Unlike other contemporary philosophical systems, Cynicism was more a method of social critique grounded in antiestablishment principles than a school with a doctrine that cultivated adherents. Caustic commentary on normative modes of thinking, exhibitionist acts that mocked all social trappings, and a choice of lifestyle based on simple essentials made the Cynic sage the essence of Cynicism. Metaphysical theory was regarded as useless and scientific speculation as an elitist sport. Practice and principle were fundamentally equivalent. Cynicism itself was a vocation or calling, the object of which was to challenge assumptions by accosting the public with words and deeds contrived to instigate rude awakenings.

Evidently, Diogenes viewed himself as a man who had experienced deliverance from delusion. In his view, this delusion was a state of malaise that generally characterized the plight of humanity in its endless pursuit of material gain, status, prestige, and pretensions to power. In this context, the phrase “defacing the currency,” the accusation faced by Diogenes and his father, became a motto of Cynic intent. This phrase both described Diogenes’ past transgression, which served as antecedent to his engagement with wisdom, and served as a summary statement of the civic role the Cynics perceived as their debt to society. Diogenes made a lasting impression in Athens by living in a great tub on charitable donations and publicly per-

Diogenes. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Forming bodily acts otherwise deemed indecent by custom. Numerous anecdotes yield a consistent profile. When Alexander the Great approached Diogenes and asked what he wished for, Diogenes asked the king to step out of the path of the sunlight that had been reaching him; when coming from the baths and asked ifthey were crowded, Diogenes said he saw many bathers but very few people. Ostentatiously hostile toward all common judgments, Diogenes proclaimed himself a “citizen of the cosmos.” In the Cynic view, heritage constructs and identity claims were pompous illusions that spawned discord and conflict. They rated among the many and varied futile pursuits that sapped human agency from moral virtue. The classic Cynic outlook, in this regard, assessed human practice most negatively but looked at human potential in a positive light. Cynic eccentrics existed on earth to endorse a reordering of human priorities.

Influence Cynicism had an effect on Greek and Roman philosophy (especially Stoic and Epicurean ethics), literature (especially parody and polemics via the Cynic diatribe and anecdotal tradition), religion, ruler ideology, Christian asceticism, and Continental European philosophy.

Further Reading

Branham, R. Bracht, and Marie-Odile Goulet-Caze, eds. The Cynics: The Cynic Movement in Antiquity and Its Legacy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.

Dudley, D. R. A History of Cynicism: From Diogenes to Sixth Century A. D.

Reprint. London: Bristol Classical Press, 1998.

Green, Peter. Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. Reprint. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. Navia, Louis E. Classical Cynicism: A Critical Study. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996.

Zoe A. Pappas

See also: Alexander the Great; Antisthenes; Cynicism; Philosophy; Plato; Socrates.