Cynic
Webster’s (1988) definition:
cynic\’sin-ik\noun\literally “like a dog”
1. cap. an adherent of an ancient Greek school of philosophers who held the view that virtue is the only good and that its essence lies in self-control and independence.
2. a faultfinding captious (ill-natured) critic.
From Blupete’s philosophical terms:
Cynicism: the characteristic of the sect of philosophers called the Cynics in ancient Greece, founded by Antisthenes, a pupil of Socrates.
Britannica’s definition:
Cynic: any member of a 4th century BC Greek philosophical sect distinguished by an unconventional way of life more than for any system of thought. Antisthenes is considered its founder but Diogenes of Sinope was its paradigm. He strove to destroy social conventions, including family life, as a way of returning to a “natural” life. He lived as a vagabond pauper, slept in public buildings, and begged for food.
The group of philosophers formed a sect called “Cynics”. Antisthenes and Diogenes are two philosophers of that sect. Antisthenes (b. 445 BC, d. 365) was born to a wealthy family and the philosophical ideas that developed from the contradictions and injustices that he found inbedded in society. His goal was to build ideas that would serve as guiding principles that would move persons toward a happier, more thoughtful way of life. He also demarcated two categories in his teachings: (1) external goods: personal property, sensual pleasure and other luxuries and (2) internal goods: including the truth and knowledge of the soul. He advocated great restraint on individuals who were tempted to take pleasure in external goods and encouraged his students to accept the burden of physical and mental pain in order to search the soul for its own inner wealth. Antisthenes often dramatized his teaching by standing on his platform of ideas and would “bark” at the folly and injustices of society. The Cynic (Greek: Canine or Doglike) school of philosophy long survived him. Other Cynics include Crates of Thebes and Peregrinus Proteus. Peregrinus is remembered for his spectacular suicide when he cremated himself on the flames of the Olympic Games in 165.
To illustrate “Cynic”, Diogenes of Sinope will be discussed. He is considered to be the archetype or model of the Cynics. Cynics stressed stoic self-sufficiency and the rejection of luxury. He and his followers considered themselves to be watchdogs of morality. Cynics disregarded luxury but also disregarded laws and customs of organized communities. The family was viewed as an unnatural institution to be replaced by a natural state where men and women would be promiscuous and children would be the common concern of all. Self-sufficiency was a main theme of the Cynics and meant that each person possessed within theirself all that they needed for happiness. Other principles were “shamelessness” which signified the necessary regard for those conventions and “outspokenness” which was an uncompromising zeal for exposing vice and conceit and stirring men to reform.
Quotes associated with Cynics are:
“Love of money is the mother of all evils.”
“Demagogues are the mob’s lackeys.”
“ It is the privilege of the Gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.”
References:
Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved September 19, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/1/0,5716,28861+1+28405,00.html
Quotes from the Philosopher Diogenes of Sinope (“the Cynic”). Retrieved September 19, 2000
from the World Wide Web: http://philosphy.about…sophy/library/bldqdiogenes/htm?terms=cynic
Glossary of Philosophic Terms. Retrieved September 15, 2000 from the World Wide Web:
http://wwwlblupete.com/Literature/Essays/BluePete/Phil.htm
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1988). Merriam-Webster: Springfield, MA