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There was once a man who lived in a tub, begged for his food, and told Alexander the Great to step out of his sunlight. This lecture from Academy of Ideas tells the story of Diogenes, the founder of ancient Cynicism and history’s most fearless critic of conformity. Diogenes believed freedom and happiness do not come from wealth, fame, or the endless scramble for status, but from stripping away artificial rules and living simply, in the present moment. He made a philosophy of embarrassing the herd awake — and two thousand years later, his lantern still searches for an honest man.
Full Video Transcript
In this lecture we are going to investigate the life and ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes the Cynic.
Diogenes was one of the founders of the philosophical movement known as Cynicism.
Cynicism as a philosophical movement saw its prominence last approximately 900 years, commencing in the 5th century BC with Diogenes.
The word Cynic comes from the Greek word for dog, and Diogenes is a name which means the man from God.
Hence, Diogenes was also called Diogenes the dog, which means the man from God who acted like a dog.
The ancient cynic movement influenced many schools of thought, most notably Stoicism.
The doctrines put forth by Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, were said to be written on the dog’s tail, a clear reference to Diogenes’ influence.
Other more modern day philosophers were also influenced by Diogenes, Frederick Nietzsche among them, who claimed that the highest one can reach on earth is cynicism.
is cynicism. The modern meaning of the word cynicism is very different from the classical
or ancient meaning of the word, and to differentiate the two, scholars capitalized the word cynic
or cynicism when referring to ancient cynicism. A modern cynic is generally an individual
who thinks negatively about human beings and existence in general. Life, for the modern
cynic, would have been better if it never happened at all. The ancient cynic, as exemplified
by Diogenes differed significantly from the modern-day cynic, as we will see shortly.
However, one view that is common among both the ancient and modern cynic is a low opinion
of the masses. Most people according to Diogenes are vain, lazy, ignorant, and blindly obedient.
Yet even in maintaining such a view, the ancient cynic, unlike the modern-day cynic, was not
pessimistic about life itself. Rather, ancient cynics believed that each individual had the
power to transform their life so as to achieve freedom, self-sufficiency, and happiness.
For example, a man once said to Diogenes that life was evil, but Diogenes did not agree
and corrected him by saying, not life itself, but living an evil life.
But while saying this, Diogenes believed that practically all individuals were immersed
in an evil life, enslaved by their own ignorance and conforming blindly to the herd that is
mankind.
Diogenes, on the other hand, proclaimed to have escaped such a life.
He alone, he boasted, was free, self-sufficient, and happy.
He was an autonomous individual, that is, an individual who had shaken off the social
constraints, norms, and expectations, and lived according to his own laws and ideals.
Because of his self-achieved freedom, happiness, and self-sufficiency, Diogenes considered
himself a king among men, an interesting claim given that he begged for his daily sustenance,
in a pithos, which is essentially a storage jar or tub, and owned nothing except for a worn and
tattered cloak and a staff. Diogenes’ belief that he was a king among men is exemplified in a tale,
which tells how once a ship which Diogenes was on was captured by pirates, and he was sold as a
slave in the marketplace. During this ordeal, Diogenes was asked what his occupation was,
to which he responded, to govern men, and he followed this statement up by proclaiming
that if anyone was in need of a master, they should purchase him.
Although Diogenes claimed to have attained knowledge as to how to live the
proverbial good life,
he didn’t express this knowledge by writing a philosophical treatise
or developing an expansive ethical system. Although it is thought that he
did write a number of essays,
Diogenes primarily expressed his ideas through his actions
and in the conversations he had with his fellow citizens.
He, perhaps more than any other philosopher in history,
Socrates included, epitomized the Greek ideal of philosophy
as a way of life. A great example of the way in which Diogenes’
actions expressed his ideals is found in a story which describes him being
surrounded by a number of philosophers
who were arguing that motion does not exist, a position most famously held by
the pre-socratic philosopher Parmenides.
Diogenes, upon hearing their carefully thought out
and detailed arguments, simply got up and walked away,
thereby proving without saying a word that motion does indeed exist.
Central to Diogenes’ philosophy was the conviction that
it is pointless to concern oneself with abstract contemplation or metaphysical
speculation.
Instead, the sole concern of one’s attention should be with the concrete
here and now,
for it is only in the here and now that one can attain happiness,
and thus philosophy should be concerned only with the present.
Any abstract speculation divorced from the here and now,
about whether motion exists for example, only distracts one from this
all-important concern. Diogenes thought that when one turned their attention
away from
abstract speculation to the concrete here and now, they would soon observe
that most human beings are,
to put it in the nicest way possible, quite pitiful creatures.
In one of the more famous anecdotes about Diogenes, it is said that one day
he went into the marketplace in broad daylight with a lantern saying,
I am looking for a man.” He never found what he was looking for, that is,
self-sufficient, free, and happy individuals, but instead found only
ignorant, obedient, and worthless creatures. Diogenes treated others with
the disrespect he thought they deserved.
One day, when a few people were throwing bones at Diogenes as they would to a dog,
he got up and urinated on them. He thought that if the human species should
go extinct,
there should be as much cause for regret as there should be if flies and wasps
should pass away.
He even went so far as to try to quicken the rate of the extinction of mankind.
When Diogenes was begging on the street, a man started to mock him and said,
I will give you, but only if you can persuade me. To which Diogenes responded,
If I could have persuaded you of anything, I would have persuaded you to hang yourself.
While Diogenes was certainly a misanthrope who ridiculed and condemned human beings,
he did not think human nature was corrupt and to blame for the depravity which permeates mankind.
Instead, he believed that human beings are by nature good and virtuous, but that they
have been corrupted by the artificial social norms, customs, practices, and values which
are inculcated into them via the process of socialization.
These artificial social constraints are conforming forces, which turn potentially strong and
independent individuals into obedient sheep.
In fact, Diogenes made it his life’s mission to debase or destroy these social norms, practices,
values which he believed weakened individuals. To do this, he attempted to display through
his actions how ridiculous and arbitrary many of them are. Once, when the city of Corinth
heard news that they were soon to be under attack, the citizens went into a panic and
began preparing for the coming battle. Diogenes, oblivious as to what all the fuss was about,
began rolling his pithos, or tub in which he lived, up and down a hill. Someone asked
why he was performing such a pointless task, to which he replied,
“…just to make myself look as busy as the rest of you.” According to Diogenes, the
goals and ends which people devote their lives to,
and the flurry of pointless activity they engage in to achieve these goals,
are Sisyphean tasks that are about as meaningful as rolling a tub
up and down a hill over and over, or in the case of Sisyphus,
carrying a boulder up a hill every day, only to have it roll back down at the
end of each day. So convinced that social norms, customs and values corrupt, weaken
and condemn the mass of mankind to a life of frustration and misery, Diogenes did everything
he could to ensure that he did not fit in with the norm. He would frequently walk backwards
through the streets and enter theatres at the end of performances when everyone was
leaving. Clearly such odd behaviour garnered the attention of those around him. When someone
called him mad, which must have been a pretty frequent occurrence, Diogenes replied,
Diogenes’ ruthless attack against social norms and customs was not an end in itself.
He did not want to destroy such customs solely for the sake of destroying something.
Instead, he viewed such an attack as a means to an end, that is,
he wanted to help individuals break free from the chains of social constraints
so as to enable them to live a happy and free life.
In order to achieve this, Diogenes thought it was necessary to disregard all social norms
and instead live according to nature.
He thought that happiness could be attained not by satiating the desires driven into one
via the process of socialization, such as the desire for wealth, power, social acceptance, and fame,
but instead by living simply in the present moment
and embracing the simple pleasures which the natural world has to offer.
There’s a story that Alexander the Great heard about Diogenes and paid him a visit in Corinth,
where he was resting in the sunlight. Alexander, proud as can be, walked up to him and said,
Diogenes, ask of me whatever you want. Diogenes looked up at Alexander the Great,
annoyed that someone was interrupting his rest, and said, stand out of my son. Alexander the Great
had achieved dominion over many kingdoms, amassed a great fortune, and was revered and feared by
every individual across the classical world. However, Diogenes recognized the worthlessness
of all these so-called achievements. The best is not to spend one’s life in a frantic commotion,
exhausting oneself each day trying to become rich, socially accepted, or powerful. Instead,
the best is to relax and indulge in the simple pleasures which nature has to offer each moment.
The feeling of warm sunlight against one’s skin after a long winter, the sight of a blossoming
tree in the spring, or the taste of cool water on a hot summer’s day. These simple and natural
pleasures make one far happier than the artificial desires which rule and chain the masses to a
continual state of madness. However, since most human beings have been so thoroughly corrupted
by conforming to the values and norms of society, in order to relearn how to live simply, that is,
according to nature, one must undergo an intense training regimen. This training regimen Diogenes
held involves seeking out and enduring pain and suffering. In fact, it is said that Hercules was
an inspiration to Diogenes and other cynics, for he willingly sought out trials and tribulations.
Part of Diogenes’ training regimen involved approaching statues and asking them for money
and food.
When someone asked why he did such a ridiculous thing, he replied, to get practice in being
refused.
He was also seen rolling around in the scorching hot sand on a blistering day, or walking barefoot
in the snow.
Paradoxically, Diogenes believed that by seeking out and enduring pain and hardship, he was
actually living the most pleasurable life possible. For when one becomes used
to pain and suffering,
the simplest of pleasures, such as the sun against one’s skin,
evoke intense feelings of joy and gratitude.
The scorn of pleasure is the greatest pleasure, Diogenes is thought to have
said.
Having removed himself from society and all the norms and expectations which
chain individuals to a life of conformity, misery, and frustration,
Diogenes considered himself a truly self-sufficient
individual. His happiness was solely in his own hands. Sickness, poverty, rejection, failure,
pain, suffering, none of these things could rob Diogenes of his freedom and joy. As the Roman
philosopher Seneca explained, Diogenes acted in such a way that he could not be robbed of anything,
for he freed himself from everything that is fortuitous. It appears to me as if he had said,
concern yourself with your own business, O fate, for there is nothing in Diogenes that belongs to
you anymore.
Source: Academy of Ideas
A lot we can learn from Diogenes. I would have loved to have met him. He couldn’t have cared less.