Cynics is the famous philosophical school of Ancient Greece, most of whose representatives were followers of the teachings of Socrates. School thinkers were also called cynics for their somewhat sullen character, strict views, and dissatisfaction with the existing social, political and religious order.
Founder of the Cinema School
The ideological leader and apologist of the doctrine is Antisthenes. The philosopher was the son of a citizen of Athens and a Thracian slave. Proceeding from this, Antisthenes was considered illegitimate and was doomed to be in the status of an incomplete member of society all his life.
Antisthenes was one of the most devoted and senior students of Socrates. Fascinated by moral beliefs and the personality of a mentor, the young philosopher did not leave the teacher until the end of his days. After the death of Socrates, Antisthenes founded his own philosophical school in one of the high schools of Athens, intended for the illegitimate.
Antisthenes tried to lead a life that corresponded to his teachings. The philosopher did not bow to anyone, did not consider poverty a vice, and deliberately showed his disregard for the owners of power. The sage spent days in thought, leaving behind himself numerous volumes of essays. His most famous followers, Krathes and Diogenes, believed that in all Greece there would be no philosophers who were equal to Antisthenes in their unwavering, fearlessness and ability to live according to their convictions.
The school of cynics, the philosophy of Antisthenes was successful until the death of its founder. Later, more than 70 works of the thinker were contributed to the famous Alexandria Library . After Anti-Sphen died, for another 150 years, cynics actively promoted their views. Skeptics, whose philosophy adopted many ideas from the cynical school, subsequently completely dissolved this doctrine in their own.
Diogenes of Sinope
The most striking follower of the teachings of Antisthenes was Diogenes. He became famous primarily for numerous quirks. According to historical information that has reached our days, the philosopher liked to wander around the city with a lighted lamp in broad daylight. In such an unusual way, the sage tried to find a “good man” in the crowded streets.
Diogenes lived in poverty, dressed in clothes that were given to him by the citizens of the city, consumed any food that came to hand. The thinker, according to some sources, chose a large clay jug as housing, and, according to others, a wooden barrel. For leading such an unusual lifestyle, Diogenes received the nickname "Dog."
Once, a rich citizen of Athens invited Diogenes to his own house, hoping for a fascinating conversation with the sage. However, seeing the luxurious decoration of the premises, marble floors and numerous works of art, the philosopher did not speak with a hospitable person, but only turned around and silently left. Diogenes later explained his act by saying that the house did not have a better place to spit apart from the owner’s face.
Krates from Thebes
Famous cynics are not only Antisthenes and Diogenes. Another great follower of the school of philosophy was Krates. This thinker belonged to the category of wealthy citizens. However, carried away by the wisdom of the school of cynics, he decided to abandon the luxurious life and high status in society. Krates bequeathed all property to his own son, provided that he did not want to become a philosopher.
Like Diogenes, Krates preferred to spend time in thought, practicing a beggarly lifestyle. The best student of the sage was his wife Hipparchia, who in her youth renounced her wealthy family and joined the school of cynics.
Teaching of cynics
Cynics is a philosophical school that was founded in Athens at the turn of the 5-6th centuries by illegitimate members of society, the poor, and also wandering thinkers. The reason for the formation of the school was the protest of the poor against the deterioration of social conditions, increased political oppression and economic instability in the state. The main ideas of the doctrine, which involved a beggarly life similar to that of a dog, quickly found adherents throughout ancient Greece.
What did cynics teach? The philosophy of this school offered the population a specific worldview, which implied a categorical rejection of consumer values and slaveholding views, laws, morality, traditions and customs that reigned in society. At the same time, the cynics were not ascetics. School representatives tried to be active, promoting the ideals of freedom, contempt for luxury. The postulates of the teachings were aimed at simplifying life, achieving equality, and promoting cosmopolitan views.
The philosophy of cynics found adherents among people who lost hope for a brighter future, realized the unfairness of laws, and became disillusioned with the promises of politicians. The followers of the teachings were engaged not only in the propaganda of their ideals, but also practiced their own principles in life. Cynics tried to limit themselves as much as possible in needs, refused material wealth. The social school of cynics considered the absence of craving for a certain place of residence, restlessness as a whole, to be the highest good.
Ethics of Cynics
Considering what ethics cynics preferred, the main ideas of the philosophical school, it is worth noting that the founder of the teachings of Antisthenes taught his followers to distinguish between “their own” and “foreign”. According to the sage, a good for a person can only be his inner freedom, but not property.
The main ethical principle of cynics was virtue, which was considered the only good. In turn, the source of evil was vice. Everything else, in addition to these concepts, was indifferent to the sages of the philosophical school.
Views on social life and the state
Cynics are thinkers who believed that a person should not be enslaved to established prejudice in society, try to comply with an extraneous opinion. Krates and Diogenes deliberately went against the generally accepted norms, violated unfair laws. Philosophers deliberately started heated debates in the streets, which reached quarrels. Thus, the followers of the school of cynics accustomed themselves not to attach importance to human abuse.
According to cynical philosophy, members of society are divided into stupid and wise. The first are slaves who do not have their own opinions and consciousness, deprived of good, true joy in life. In turn, the sages who have renounced everything are true freedom and independence. An intelligent person does not live according to written laws, but relies on internal ethics.
The ideal state in the eyes of the cynics was a human community, for which there are no borders, institutions, laws, material wealth. In other words, the ideal for the representatives of the philosophical school looked like a man who returned to his natural state in nature.
Relation to religion
What attitude did cynics have towards religion? The school philosophy formed purely negative views on any cults. Indeed, religion could not give anything positive to a true cynic who lives according to the principles of teaching. The ideological leaders of the school considered the only deity to be the human mind. Everything else was perceived as a product of imagination, as well as the errors and limitations that prevailed throughout society.
Characteristic features of the philosophy of cynics
The main postulates of the followers of the doctrine included:
- gaining absolute freedom through renunciation of social life;
- voluntary rejection of material wealth;
- wandering, lack of a permanent home, meeting basic needs through begging;
- neglect of hygiene, preference for worse living conditions;
- praise of poverty;
- harsh criticism of idealistic teachings;
- non-recognition of the power of man and the gods;
- lack of patriotism and cosmopolitan views;
- concentration of attention of others on human vices, criticism of the worst human features.
Finally
Cynics are a special philosophical school, whose members, probably due to their low social status, did not recognize any authority over themselves. Subsequently, from the vivid antisocial behavior of cynics, the term “cynicism” arose, which casts doubt on everything. The wide distribution and popularity of the teachings in ancient Greece at the end of the 5th - beginning of the 6th century meant that society at that time needed to abandon slaveholding principles and satisfy the aspirations of the impoverished, disenfranchised strata of society.