![]() “Where is the ‘emptiness’ that’s in this empty cup?” asked Diogenes. “That’s because you have the eyes to see the cup,” said Plato, “but”, tapping his head with his forefinger, “you don’t have the mind to comprehend the`cupness’.”ĭiogenes walked up to the table, picked up a cup, looked inside and asked Plato, “Is it empty?” Plato nodded. Once Plato was discussing his theories, pointing to the cups on the table, he said that while there are many cups in the world, there is only one `idea’ of a cup, which he defined as a “cupness”ĭiogenes was present here, and said “I can see the cups on the table,but I can’t see the ‘cupness’”. ![]() Diogenes heard this and hurriedly rushed to Plato’s Academy, brandishing a plucked chicken, exclaiming “ Behold, Here is Plato’s man!” One time, Plato was trying to define a human being with the simplest term possible, he therefore defined man as a “featherless biped”. He was critical of his philosopher peers, mainly Plato (Socrates’ student). Unassumingly, Diogenes was a very smart man, having a sharp mind that can (and does) challenge and roast the most pompous of scholars and philosophers. When he was eating, a passerby by called him a dog, and Diogenes shoots back “It is you who are dogs, standing around and watching me eat my breakfast.” He lived in a tub in the middle of a marketplace in Athens, and his sole possession is a wooden bowl which he uses to eat and drink with, until he saw a young boy drinking from his hands, that he threw away his bowl, staying true to his way of life.ĭiogenes would eat and perform ‘bodily functions’ right there in the marketplace, in full view of everyone else, under the full pressure of the current societal norms and conventions. He chose to live like shameless beggar, criticizing those who have become superficial, delusional and vain. It includes an extensively annotated translation of Diogenes Laertius’s biography of Diogenes and a comprehensive bibliography.He has the most who is most content with the leastĭiogenes was an Ancient Greek Philosopher that is famous for his unusual outlook of life, Cynicism, which sets aside conventional desires for a simple lifestyle. The book provides abundant references to ancient testimonies and modern scholarship. Navia emphasizes the vast difference between Diogenes’ ideas and style of life on the one hand and, on the other, what is nowadays called cynicism. In Chapter 5, the influence of Diogenes is discussed. Chapter 4 reconstructs the philosophy of Diogenes by identifying twelve principles of his thought. This process involves complex psychological, sociological, and philosophical factors, chief among which was Socrates’ influence on Diogenes through the agency of Antisthenes. ![]() ![]() Chapter 3 clarifies the roots and basis of the Cynic metamorphosis, that is, the process by which Diogenes transformed himself into a dog. This "war against the world," as Navia describes it, especially the rhetoric of Cynicism, was the primary medium used by the Cynics to convey their message. In Chapter 2, the practice of Cynicism, as exemplified by Diogenes, is elucidated. Chapter 1 provides a biographical sketch of Diogenes constructed on the basis of ancient testimonies. Navia undertakes the task of reconstructing Diogenes’ life and extracting from him lessons that are valuable in our time. In this comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and engaging book, philosopher Luis E. Among them, the most important and distinctive was Diogenes of Sinope, who became the archetype of Classical Cynicism. For over eight hundred years, philosophers-men and women-who called themselves Cynics, literally "dogs" in their language, roamed the streets and byways of the Hellenistic world, teaching strange ideas and practicing a bizarre way of life. ![]()
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