Cynical school
The cynical school (from the Greek kyon: 'dog', a name attributed due to its frugal way of life) is called the school founded in Ancient Greece during the second half of the fourth century B.C. C. The Greek Antisthenes was its founder and Diogenes of Sinope one of its most recognized and representative philosophers of his time. They reinterpreted the Socratic doctrine considering that civilization and its way of life was an evil and that happiness came from following a simple life and in accordance with nature. The man already carried in himself the elements to be happy and to conquer his autonomy; he was indeed the true good. Hence the contempt for wealth and any form of material concern. The man with the fewest needs was the freest and the happiest. In addition to those already mentioned, Crates of Thebes, a disciple of Diogenes, Hiparchy, one of the first female philosophers, and Menippus of Gadara appear in this school.
The cynics were famous for their eccentricities, of which Diogenes Laertius tells many, and for the composition of numerous satires or diatribes against the corruption of customs and the vices of the Greek society of his time, practicing an attitude many times irreverent, the so-called anaideia. Certain aspects of cynical morality influenced Stoicism, but while the attitude of the Cynics is critical of the evils of society, that of the Stoics is one of action through virtue.
Cynicism
Cynicism is a movement that developed in Greece, during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. C., and continued in the great cities of the Roman Empire: Rome, Alexandria and Constantinople until the V century. One of the origins of the name is associated with one of its founders, the first was Antisthenes, who gave it this name because of the place where he used to teach, which was a gymnasium called Cynosarges, which, translated, would come to mean white dog or fast dog. Later, due to the behavior of Antisthenes and Diogenes, they were nicknamed cynics, since their behavior resembled that of dogs, although at first this school was called the "minor Socratic school". The cynical attitude was initiated in the West by Diogenes of Sinope in the IV century BC. c.
Cynicism was not a school despite this title. A philosophical school was an establishment in which a doctrine or intellectual inspiration was taught, maintained by a group of people directed by a superior. Antisthenes was one of its founders and the meetings were held in a gym that they frequented. They were against the school, they repudiated science, rules and conventions, especially Antisthenes.
Description of a cynical person
These individuals aspired to identify with the figure of the dog, due to the simplicity and audacity of canine life. They wore a beard, carried a saddlebag and a staff, played puns as a methodology: to those who proposed incomprehensible ideas and theories, they put gestures, humor and irony.
The cynics took nature and animals as their model; They invited the uproar of all graves.
Alcifrón portrays a cynic as follows:
It's a horrible and painful show to see, when it shakes its filthy melena and looks at you insolently. It is presented half naked, with a chute layer, a pendant bag and, among its hands, a bush made of wild pear wood. It's barefoot, it's not washed and it's unofficial and profitable. He doesn't want to know anything about his estate or about us, his parents, but instead refuses us, for he claims that all things are the work of nature and that the union of elements is the cause of generation and not the parents. Evidently, he despises money and abhors the cultivation of the land. It doesn't make sense of shame and the might has been wiped out of his face.
Philosophy
Cynicism is one of the most striking of all Hellenistic philosophies.[9] It was intended to offer people the possibility of happiness and freedom from suffering in an age of uncertainty. Although there was never an official Cynic doctrine, the main tenets of Cynicism can be summarized as follows:
- The goal of life is eudaimonia and mental clarity or lucidity (.τυφια), literally "free themselves from smoke (ωφος)", all that meant false belief, foolishness, madness and presumption.
- Eudaimonia is achieved by living according to Nature (physis) as human reason (logos) understands it.
- Arrogance (τφος) is caused by false judgments of value, which cause negative emotions, unnatural desires and a vicious character.
- Eudaimonia, or human blossoming, depends on self-sufficiency or autarchy (α).τάρκεια), equanimity, virtue or arete, love for humanity, openness in speaking or parresy and indifference to the vicissitudes of life (adiaphora).διαφοραα).
- One progresses towards blossoming and clarity through ascetic practices (κις) that help him to free himself from influences such as wealth, fame and power that have no value in Nature. Instead, they promoted a life of hard work and effort (ponos). For the cynics, this did not seem to mean real physical work. Diogenes of Sinope, for example, lived from begging, not manual labor. Rather, it means deliberately choosing a hard life, for example, using only a thin layer and walking barefoot in winter.
- A cynical practices shame or disgrace (Áναιδεια) and disfigures the nomes of society: the laws, customs and social conventions that people assume.
Thus, a cynic has no property and rejects all conventional values of money, fame, power, and reputation. A life lived in accordance with nature requires only the basic necessities required for existence, and one can free oneself by disengaging from whatever necessity is the result of convention. The Cynics adopted Heracles as their hero, as the personification of the Cynic ideal.[14] Heracles "was the one who brought Cerberus, the hound of Hades, from the underworld, a point of special attraction for the dog-man, Diogenes". [15] According to Luciano, "Cerberus and Cynic are surely related through the dog".
The cynical lifestyle required continuous training, not only in the exercise of judgments and mental impressions, but also in physical training:
[Diógenes] used to say that there were two kinds of exercise: that of the mind and the body; and that the latter created in the mind such quick and agile impressions at the time of their execution, which greatly facilitated the practice of virtue; but that one was imperfect without the other, since the health and vigor necessary for the practice of what is good, depends equally on the mind and body.
None of this meant that a cynic would withdraw from society. In fact, cynics had to live in the glare of the public eye and be quite indifferent to any insults that might flow from their unconventional behavior.[10] Cynics are said to have invented the idea of cosmopolitanism: when asked where he came from, Diogenes replied that he was 'a citizen of the world' (kosmopolitês).
The ideal cynic would evangelize; as humanity's watchdog, they thought it was his duty to harass people about the error of his ways.[10] The example of the cynic's life (and the cynic's use of biting satire) would unearth and expose the pretensions that lie at the root of everyday conventions.
Cynic philosophy had a major impact on the Hellenistic world and ultimately became a major influence on Stoicism. The Stoic Apollodorus, writing in the II century B.C. C., stated that "cynicism is the short path to virtue".
Modern and ancient cynicism
Over time, the concept of cynicism mutated, and today it is associated with the tendency to disbelieve in sincerity or human goodness, neither in their motivations nor in their actions, as well as a tendency to express this attitude through irony, sarcasm and mockery.
Almost 2000 years after certain Greek philosophers had embraced classical Cynicism, in the 17th century and XVIII writers such as Shakespeare, Swift and Voltaire, following in the traditions of Geoffrey Chaucer and François Rabelais, use irony, sarcasm and satire to ridicule human behavior and revive cynicism. In the literary aspect, figures from the 19th century and XX such as Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker and H. L. Mencken used cynicism as a way to communicate their opinions under some manifestations of human nature. In 1930, Bertrand Russell, in his essay 'On the Cynicism of Youth', was able to describe the extent to which (in his view) cynicism had penetrated Western consciousness en masse, and he emphasized especially in areas partially influenced by cynicism: religion, homeland (patriotism), progress, beauty and truth.
Many modern and contemporary philosophers have been strongly influenced by ancient cynicism. In the philosophy of Rousseau, Nietzsche, Michel Onfray or Peter Sloterdijk, a very marked influence of the cynicism of Antisthenes and Diogenes can be noted, so that through them, ideas and proposals of ancient cynicism survive in later thought, such as the preferability of nature against convention, the need for value transformation of society, freedom of speech or the value of autarky.
Important characters of cynicism
Antisthenes
He was one of the most important philosophers of his time, a direct disciple of Socrates; He in turn had a decisive influence on some of the schools that were formed in this period, both because of his theories and because of his attitude and his way of life.
Antisthenes was born in Athens between 450 and 445 B.C. C., and died in the year 366 a. C. his father was an Athenian citizen and his mother a Thracian slave. This miscegenation prevented him from obtaining Athenian citizenship, but it does not seem that this bothered him too much.
His philosophical career began as a disciple of the famous sophist Gorgias, who, like all sophists, was paid to teach, from which it could be deduced that Antisthenes enjoyed a good financial position. At this same time he was also initiated into the Orphic mysteries. However, his main learning was with Socrates, of whom he became a disciple and friend until his death.
Antisthenes was present at the death of Socrates as they discussed the immortality of the soul and waited for the time to drink the poison that would cause his death. The old master's tranquility at such decisive moments made a deep impression on all those present. This probably influenced Antisthenes' later insistence on ataraxia.
One day Antisthenes decided to get rid of everything superfluous and found his own school. He did it in a gym on the outskirts of Athens called Cinosarges, which means "white dog". The change is so radical that he also manifested himself externally: he began to wear a cloak, a bag and a cane, clothing that became the cynic's uniform. He decisively dispensed with everything that he cannot carry with him, with the intention of freeing himself from the whims of fortune and ruling his own destiny.
His goal was to achieve happiness and the virtues of a human being and, according to what he said, this was achieved if he depended only on himself. The fundamental thing for the cynic was autarky, that is, independence from all external conditioning, self-sufficiency, which could be learned but required effort. Gone was everything that he considered no longer belonged to the wise man, family, money, fame and above all his old thoughts. On a certain occasion he affirmed that the greatest happiness was, without a doubt, to die happy.
Antisthenes lived by his own law, the one he chose for himself. Established laws and social conventions were not important to this wise man, who, like all cynics, despised norms, institutions, customs, and everything that represented a bond for man. He preached a return to nature as a revulsion to the social and cultural domestication that was imposed in the cities. He was highly educated and wrote numerous books, of which only two brief fragments survive today.
Crates of Thebes
Crates of Thebes was a wealthy citizen with a good social position, who gave up his entire fortune to become a cynical philosopher. He was a disciple of Diogenes and a teacher of Zeno of Citium. Crates, unlike his teacher, was a kind and quiet man, which earned him the nickname "the philanthropist", as well as "door opener", because people called him to their houses to ask him for advice and to chat with him. He was born in Thebes approximately in the year 368 a. C., but he immediately went to Athens to become a follower of Diogenes. He died around the year 288 a. C. Like all cynics he preached autarky and simplicity, setting an example with his life and his actions, and although his style was less aggressive than his predecessors, his attitude was the same as the others.
For Crates, philosophy freed him from his external slavery, in terms of family, property or social customs and also freed him from internal slavery, of his opinions, maintaining his radical individual freedom. In order to live happily, he believed that the minimum was enough, and that frugality and distance from institutions and laws were essential.
Crates wrote quite a few pieces of literature in which he managed to maintain a good standard. They were parodies that hid ethical messages. He intended to propagate Diogenes' principles in an attractive way, and in this way he managed to reach a fairly wide audience.
Diogenes of Sinope
Diogenes of Sinope was born in Sinope (Asia Minor) between the years 413 B.C. C. and 400 a. C. and died in Corinth in the year 323 a. C. he was banished from Sinope. Forced by these circumstances, he wandered through Sparta, Corinth and Athens, and in the latter city he frequented the Cynosarges and became a disciple of Antisthenes, he chose to lead an austere life and adopted the cynical dress, as his teacher.
From his early days in Athens, he displayed a passionate character. He radically put into practice the theories of his teacher Antisthenes. He took freedom of speech to the extreme, and his dedication was to criticize and denounce everything that limited man, particularly institutions. He proposed a new valuation against the traditional valuation and was constantly confronted with social norms. He considered himself a cosmopolitan, that is, a citizen of the world; He affirmed that the cynic can be found anywhere as in his house and recognizes the same in others, and therefore the world belongs to everyone.
Legend has it that he got rid of everything that was not essential, and even abandoned his bowl when he saw a boy drink water in the hollow of his hands. He said that all this was possible but hard training was needed. Diogenes, like all cynics, recommended training to acquire areté, exercising both physically and mentally to harden and reach impassivity and self-sufficiency; independence was achieved with effort. He wrote some books, which have been lost. They were brief and in the form of maxims or sharp and ironic sentences.
His death has given rise to talk and the true cause is currently unknown. According to some, he died of his own free will, committing suicide by "holding his breath", master of his destiny and the moment of his death, although this would be somewhat metaphorical, since it is impossible to die by voluntarily stopping breathing. According to others, he died of dog bites or indigestion from eating raw octopus.
Metrocles and Hyparchy
Metrocles, brother of Hiparchia and coming from a wealthy family, was born in Maronea (Thrace). From a very young age he began to have philosophical concerns, and thanks to the fact that he had a lot of money, he was able to dedicate himself to it.
He was a shy child, and to strengthen his character his parents decided to entrust him to the master Crates, who, honoring his reputation for being tough, advised Metrocles to fortify his body. While Metrocles was one day in one of his training sessions, he involuntarily let out a wind, which seemed so extremely humiliating to him that he locked himself in his room with the intention of starving himself to death. Crates entered the cabin and tried to convince with words that he had not done anything absurd, but that it would have been absurd for nature not to do it; then the teacher began to let out flatus to encourage him with reasons, and so it was that the student heard so many farts that he ended up getting used to it and rejected the idea of taking his own life. Since then Metrocles was a disciple of Crates and was a famous philosopher.
He died at a late age by strangling himself with his hands, although it is believed, given the impossibility of dying by this method, that he hanged himself instead.
His sister Hiparchia was one of the first female philosophers, the only cynic. When she was fifteen years old she felt a deep interest in the Cynic School and she decided to follow in Crates' footsteps. She lived with him and eventually married him despite opposition from his family. She so wanted to marry Crates that she threatened to kill herself if she didn't. She was hyperarchic, she wanted to become a cynic since the way of life of a cynical person was something unusual and that appealed to her.
With Crates he shared a very peculiar way of cynical life. Both decided to lead this lifestyle. They had at least one child raised under cynical values. During the pregnancy he did not abandon his exercises and when his son was born Pasicles washed him in the shell of a turtle and also with cold water.
Hiparquia always attended each and every one of the meetings her husband attended. This was radically rejected by the society of ancient Greece, since at this time women had to deal solely and exclusively with domestic work and weaving.
Menedemus
A philosopher of the sect of Phaedo and a disciple of Caloto Lampsaceno, Menedemus came from a noble family. It is said that he was highly superstitious. His clothing consisted of a dark tunic, on his head an arcadian helmet that had twelve signs drawn, with tragic shoes, a rather long beard and an ash cane in his hand. The Eretrienses sent him to Megara, to Plato's school, where he left the militia; there he met Estilpo and they both sailed to Elis and met Moscus and Anchipylus, both disciples of Phaedo. Menedemus was a very serious man because of Crates, who called him Eretrio the bull and Fliasio the Aesculapius. And Timon says that he was very loud and futile as soon as he spoke. They say that he was a simple and very careless man; In addition, he did not keep any order for the people who heard him because there were no seats around him, but each one sat where he wanted.
He was very fond of Arato and Lycophron, a tragic poet; also Antágoras Rodio; but more than all he venerated Homer, and later the lyricists. Menedemus's speeches were very difficult to understand. He was quick-witted and an inventor of new phrases. It is said that he did not write or compose anything. At first, he was highly despised by society and the Eretrienses called him a dog, but later they rectified and admitted him to the government of the republic. He was ambassador of Lisímaco and of the courts of Ptolemy.
Finally, according to Heraclides, he died at the age of seventy-four.
Menippus
Of Phoenician origin, Menippus was a philosopher and poet in the Cynic school. It is believed that he was the promoter of the Menippean satire written in verse and prose. Very little information is known about his life in general, although it is known that he was a freed slave. Some philosophers affirm that the books where his name is found are not his, but Dionysus and Zopiro's, who gave them to Menippus so that he could put them in order. These cynical books were thirteen, among which were: Funerals, Testaments, Elegant Letters, In person of the gods, To Physicists, Mathematicians and Grammarians, The Generation of Epicurus and The Superstitious Epicurean Celebration of the Twentieth Day of the Month.
Monym of Syracuse
Monimo of Syracuse was a Cynic philosopher who was a disciple of Diogenes. He was the slave of a Corinthian banker when he met the one who would be his master. Through contact with Diogenes he became acquainted with the philosophy and way of life of the Cynics. In order to dedicate himself to this way of living, he pretended to be crazy, throwing away the money that his master told him to count and save. With this he managed to be released and was able to develop his life as a wandering philosopher. He became a reputed sage, author of a treatise On impulses and a Protreptic .
Onesicritus of Astypalea
The life of Onesicritus of Astypalea passed between the year 380 a. C. and 300 a. C. He accompanied Alexander the Great on one of his explorations to India. This intellectual is related to the “cynical school”. Few testimonies that speak about him are preserved. He was a disciple of Diogenes, although this cynic is not well known; he became more popular after the arrival of the Macedonian army in India on his journey with Alexander the Great.
Onesicritus, like other authors, wrote about India in many of his works.
Throughout his life he traveled to many countries. It is said of him that he did not consider himself a true cynic. He was not like his predecessors, but his attitude and the spread of cynicism led Diogenes Laertius to include him in his book; the name of Onesicritus appears in any list of cynical philosophers.