The philosophy of cynicism - William D. Desmond
3,457,139
Published 2019-12-19
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In the 4th century BCE, a young Diogenes of Sinope was found to be counterfeiting coins. He was stripped of his citizenship, his money, all his possessions and sent into exile. He decided he would live self-sufficiently, close to nature, without materialism, vanity, or conformity and only then could he be truly free. William D. Desmond details how Diogenes gave rise to the philosophy of cynicism.
Lesson by William D. Desmond, directed by Avi Ofer.
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All Comments (21)
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“I pissed on the man who called me a dog. Why was he so surprised?” - Diogenes
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"We live in a society" -Diogenes
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Another great quote from Diogenes was about his funeral. When asked how he wished to be buried, he left instructions to be thrown outside the city wall so wild animals could feast on his body. When asked if he minded this, he said,“Not at all, as long as you provide me with a stick to chase the creatures away!” When asked how he could use the stick since he would lack awareness, he replied “If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to me when I am dead?”
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I just realized that you can, at least partially, draw a line between cynicism, stoicism and modern minimalism, In the way that every of these philosophies seeks ultimate goal of simplifying life in order to live it fully.
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"Diogenes, if you learn to praise the emperor you wouldn't be eating lentils" "And if you learn to live of lentils you needn't have to praise the emperor".
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So basically Diogenes was the first hippie.
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“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One.” – Marcus Aurelius
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I am wonderstruck by how the meaning of a cynic has changed over time. From being a carefree, non materialistic person wanting to be more closer to the nature, to something that is considered as an insult in recent times, making ppl act out of self interest. I love the way in which the meaning took a different course in time
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"get out of my sunlight 😂"
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"We live in a society." Diogenes: "Do we REALLY though?"
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“I have nothing to ask but that you would remove to the other side, that you may not, by intercepting the sunshine, take from me what you cannot give.” ― Diogenes
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"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." ~ George Carlin
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whenever the topic is philosophy the animator always seems to include old bearded men
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There's a great illustration of Diogenes' philosophy I haven't seen anyone mention here in the comments : At some point in his life, Diogenes had a cup to drink as his only posession. Then he saw a dog drink rain water from a puddle and he threw away the cup, asking himself "What do I need this for?" I like that tale, truly shows his reject of materialism
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This isn't what I expected "cynicism" to be at all, not the image I get in my head. Really fascinating story. Seems a lot of things change from what they originally started as
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I like the other Alexander exchange even better. After getting told to get out of Diogenes sunlight, Alexander (supposedly) was so impressed that he said "If I could be any man other than Alexander, I'd wish to be Diogenes". Then Diogenes replied "If I were Alexander, I'd also want to be Diogenes". It's just so savage.
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My favorite story of Diogenes was this: The question; What is the most simple way to explain a man? Plato said humans are a featherless biped. Diogenes storms into his school as he is teaching with a dead plucked chicken and yells 'Behold, Plato's man.' Haha gold.
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The funny thing is Diogenes lived up to 89 years in ancient times and some even say he just got tired of living and hold his breath until he died
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the girl protesting on tv to be more earth friendly 3:21 is the same girl enjoying sunset with the dolphins. I just liked the continuity there
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Diogenes, the founding father of Internet trolls.
