Diogenes was likely born around 404 BC and died in 320 BC. Only a few scraps of information exist today, but we can still piece together some of his biography. Diogenes replied, "Stand out of my sunshine." Alexander was impressed with this response, and on taking his leave, commented to one of his friends: "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes. Diogenes of Sinope Was a Strange Man Diogenes by John William Waterhouse Most of what we know about Diogenes comes from later philosophers who didn’t know him during his lifetime. The powerful young conqueror, being solicitous of the old philosopher, asked what, if anything he could do for him. "A person disposed to rail or find fault now usually: One who shows a disposition to disbelieve in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions, and is wont to express this by sneers and sarcasms a sneering fault-finder." The image of a cynic that has come to us is that of a dog.)Īn interesting story is the one where the young Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) met Diogenes, then a very old man. Diogenes was known to have wandered through the streets of Athens in broad daylight, holding up a lantern to each man he passed, shining the light on him and. The other is Diogenes Laertius, who lived in the 3rd Century CE and was an historian of various teachers of philosophy, including the teachings and customs of the Druids. (The meaning of cynicism today is to be found in the OED. The most renowned of these is Diogenes of Sinope, the philosopher who walked throughout Athens carrying a lantern in daylight, searching for an honest man. At length he found himself a permanent residence in a tub." It has the power to influence you, but not decide for you. It does not answer prayers, although it may make you think of a way to solve a problem. This force created nothing, it just helps things along. God is the word used to represent a force. Diogenes, on coming to Athens from his native lands, Sinope, came as "a rake and spendthrift." After following under the spell of Antisthenes, Diogenes "became at once an austere ascetic, his clothing of the coarsest, his food the plainest, and his bed the bare ground. Fools You think of 'god' as a sentient being. The sect, known as the cynics, was founded by Antisthenes (444-370 BC), a pupil of Socrates it was "marked by an ostentatious contempt for ease, wealth, and the enjoyments of life." Diogenes was a pupil of Antisthenes. It was said of Diogenes that throughout his life he "searched with a lantern in the daylight for an honest man." And though Diogenes apparently did not find an honest man, he had, in the process, "exposed the vanity and selfishness of man." ( Chambers.) He was most likely a student of the philosopher Antisthenes (445-365 BCE) and, in the words of Plato (allegedly), was A Socrates gone mad. His goal was to show people how pathetic their superficial lives. 404-323 BCE) was a Greek Cynic philosopher best known for holding a lantern to the faces of the citizens of Athens claiming he was searching for an honest man. Biographies: Philosophers: Diogenes (BC, c412-323).ĭiogenes was chief among the school known as the cynics, though possibly not representative of it. Diogenes became known as one of the founders of CYNICISM: living a life of honesty and virtue.
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