Cynicism

Cynicism was an ancient Greek philosophy, primarily concerned with virtue,
whose followers were known as "The Dog Philosophers." They believed that
virtue was the only necessity for happiness and that it was wholly
sufficient for attaining happiness. They followed this philosophy to the
extent of neglecting everything that did not further their perfection of
virtue and their attainment of happiness. Thus the title cynics, from the
Greek word for dog, kuon , was assigned to them because they lived like
dogs; neglecting society, hygiene, family, money, etc. in order to lead
wholly virtuous and happy lives.
The cynical virtues were defined by their founder, Antisthenes.
Antisthenes demonstrated how our desires lead ultimately to misery;
therefore, a virtuous man always neglected pleasure and pleasure seeking
activities because the ultimate result of these endeavors was misery. He
adopted much of Socrates‘ philosophy and used this as the cornerstone for
his own philosophy. Some of the common ground between Antisthenes and
Socrates included:
A disregard for pleasure or pain, stemming from the belief that
the soul is more important then the body and one should neglect the body
for the benefit of the soul, and
virtue is better than non-virtue because a "virtuous person uses
properly whatever is present."
Antisthenes and his followers seem to have taken these ideas and carried
them to their extremes: totally neglecting all of the conventions of
society (i.e. bathing, marriage, money, etc.). Although Antisthenes was
the founder of the cynical school of philosophy, he did not seem to
practice what he preached as effectively as some of his followers. He gave
most of his speeches and conducted most of his philosophy in a spa/school
that he owned and which many wealthy Athenians paid to attend.
In contrast, Diogenes, one of Antisthenes most famous followers carried
the cynical philosophy to its farthest extreme. Diogenes was not known
merely as one of "The Dog Philosophers," his personal nickname was "The
Dog" and Plato referred to him as "Socrates gone mad." He denied all
physical wealth and pleasure; he lived in a barrel and his only
possessions were a robe to cover himself and a walking stick. There is an
antecdote of questionable historical accuracy that demonstrates the
character of Diogenes: One day Diogenes was sitting on a hill next to his
barrel enjoying the warm rays of the sun when he was approached by
Alexander the Great. Alexander asked Diogenes if he was the infamous
Diogenes of whom the Athenians had spoken. Diogenes replied that he was.
Alexander asked Diogenes if it was true that he had no desire for
anything. Diogenes looked up at Alexander and said that he only wanted one
thing, with that he asked Alexander to move a little to one side because
he was blocking the sun. After the encounter, Alexander reportedly stated
that if he could be anyone other than Alexander he would want to be
Diogenes. Although Diogenes‘ behavior was sometimes amusing, he was not
well liked in Athens primarily because of his writings encouraging incest
and cannibalism.
On the other hand, Crates, another famous cynic, was well liked in Athens
and it has been said that all doors in Athens were open to him. He
followed the same basic tennent of the cynical philosophy, namely that
virtue was sufficient for happiness, but he did so in a much less abrasive
manner than his predecessors. Both he and his wife, Hipparchia, a fellow
cynic, renounced great family wealth in order to live a life devoted to
cultivating virtues and attaining true happiness. As a result of his
generally easygoing attitude, he was greatly respected in Athens as a kind
and supremely virtuous man. The character of Crates closely resembled the
character of an Indian philosopher, Siddhartha Gautama (a.k.a. Buddha).
In many ways, the cynical philosophy closely resembles the Buddhist
philosophy. For example, both philosophies denied that pleasure was equal
to or had anything to do with true happiness. Both philosophies also held
as fundamental aspects of their ethics that one should neglect the body
for the benefit of the soul. Finally, the common, crucial ingredient in
both philosophies was the sufficiency of virtue for the attainment of
happiness (enlightenment in Buddhism).
Jason Merrill