What was Antisthenes philosophy?
Antisthenes believed that happiness was dependent on moral virtue and that virtue could be instilled through teaching.
What is Antisthenes famous for?
Known in antiquity as an accomplished orator, a companion of Socrates, and a philosopher, Antisthenes presently gains renown from his status as either a founder or a forerunner of Cynicism. He was the teacher to Diogenes of Sinope, and he is regarded by Diogenes Laertius as the first Cynic philosopher.
What was Diogenes main philosophy?
Diogenes, (born, Sinope, Paphlygonia—died c. 320 bce, probably at Corinth, Greece), archetype of the Cynics, a Greek philosophical sect that stressed stoic self-sufficiency and the rejection of luxury.
What did the Cynics believe?
Cynicism is a school of philosophy from the Socratic period of ancient Greece, which holds that the purpose of life is to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature (which calls for only the bare necessities required for existence).
Who is the student of Antisthenes?
Socrates
Ethics. Antisthenes was a pupil of Socrates, from whom he imbibed the fundamental ethical precept that virtue, not pleasure, is the end of existence. Everything that the wise person does, Antisthenes said, conforms to perfect virtue, and pleasure is not only unnecessary, but a positive evil.
Who inspired Antisthenes?
Antisthenes was one of the most devoted followers of Socrates. As a young man he was heavily influenced by the display speeches of Gorgias the rhetorician and the interpretation of Homer practised by the Sophists. He himself wrote much in the same vein, although almost all has been lost.
Did Diogenes know Socrates?
Diogenes, however, confronted the citizens of Athens daily with their lifelessness and shallow values, emulating his hero Socrates whom he never met but would have learned of from Antisthenes.
What did Diogenes think of Socrates?
Diogenes shared Socrates’s belief that he could function as doctor to men’s souls and improve them morally, while at the same time holding contempt for their obtuseness. Plato once described Diogenes as “a Socrates gone mad.”
Did Cynics believe in God?
He taught a strict asceticism, and called pleasure an evil and suffering good because the cravings of the body distracted the soul from gaining real education. As for the gods, Antisthenes said they were all bogus and there was only one true natural God.
How did the Cynics define happiness?
The Cynic way was built on the intellectual innovations of Socrates. Its goal was simply finding happiness (“eudaimonia”) and the central tenet of Cynic philosophy was that a life lived in accordance with nature guaranteed happiness. To live life in accordance with nature was to live in virtue.
What is the epicurean attitude to death?
Death, Epicurus argued, cannot touch us because “while we exist death is not present, and when death is present we no longer exist.” Since death cannot touch us it cannot be bad. Fear is rational only for something bad. So Epicurus concludes that fearing death is pointless.
What is the Socratic method called?
The Socratic method (also known as method of Elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate) is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions.