CynicsOnce regarded as a minor Socratic school, Cynicism is now admired as one of the more creative and influential philosophical movements in antiquity. First arising in the city-states of late classical Greece, Cynicism thrived through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, until the triumph of Christianity and the very end of pagan antiquity. In every age down to the present, its ideals of radical simplicity and freedom have alternately inspired and disturbed onlookers. This book offers a survey of Cynicism, its varied representatives and ideas, and the many contexts in which it operated. William Desmond introduces important ancient Cynics and their times, from Diogenes 'the Dog' in the fourth century BC to Sallustius in the fifth century AD. He details the Cynics' rejection of various traditional customs and the rebellious life-style for which they are notorious.The central chapters locate major Cynic themes (nature and the natural life, Fortune, self-sufficiency, cosmopolitanism) within the rich matrix of ideas debated by the ancient schools. The final chapter reviews some moments in the diverse legacy of Cynicism, from Jesus to Nietzsche. |
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according to nature admired Alexander ancient Cynicism anecdotes antiquity Antisthenes Aristotle Aristotle’s ascetic Athenian Athens become Bion BrachtBranham Cambridge century Cercidas Christian citizen claim classical cosmopolitan cosmos Crates culture custom Cyniques Cynisme ancien death Demetrius Demon Demonax dialogues Dio Chrysostom Dio’s Diogenes Laertius divine emperor empire Epictetus exile fate fortune freedom Fugitivi Gadara gods Goulet-Cazé & Goulet Greek gymnosophists Hellenistic Heracles Hipparchia honour human ideal ideas Jesus Julian king kingship Kyniker later lentils live Lucian mankind Marcus Aurelius Meleager Menippean satire Menippus Metrocles modern Monimus Musonius Rufus Nietzsche Nietzsche’s Oenomaus one’s Onesicritus oracles Oration pagan parrhēsia Parrhēsiast Pēra Peregrinus perhaps philanthrōpia philosophers pithos Plato pleasure political ponos poverty Praise rejected renunciation rich Roman Rome says self-sufficiency shamelessness Sinope slave Socrates Sophistic Stoic things thinkers thought tradition Trimalchio true Tychē typhos University Press virtue wanderer wealth word writes Zeno Zeus