

As a result, Diogenes was thrown out from the city.

At one time, Diogenes and his father got involved in a scandal of adulteration or defacement of the currency inviting trouble for themselves. It appears that Diogenes was also engaged into the banking business helping his father. There is no information on his early life except that his father’s name was Hicesias who was a banker by profession. Biography detail Diogenes Childhood and Early Lifeĭiogenes was born on 412 BC in the Greek colony of Sinope on the south coast of the Black Sea. Read more about this great philosopher in the following article. All his writings were destroyed by time, but the details of his life is taken from the forms of anecdotes, specifically from Diogenes Laërtius’s book “Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.” // Famous PhilosophersĪlan Watts was a famous British philosopher known for his Zen teachings and interpretations of Eastern philosophy. The belief of Diogenes was that the virtue was excellently exposed in action than in theory.
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The entire life of Diogenes was an adamant campaign to debunk social values and institutions of what he examined as a society full of corruption. Diogenes was also a loyal admirer of Hercules. After being hooked by the pirates and sold into slavery, he, by the course of time, settled in Corinth. He was usually involved in an argument with Plato.

However, despite being poor and not well-off, Diogenes was much talked about, thanks to his proactive behavior and philosophical stunts. He then moved to Athens and struggled for livelihood. All his life, he was surrounded by controversies.Diogenes was thrown out of his native place for damaging the currency. Diogenes illustrated his philosophy of Cynicism to Crates who taught it to Zeno of Citium who further forwarded it into the school of Stoicism which was amongst the most enduring Greek philosophy schools. At one time, he cleverly ashamed Plato and looked upon Antisthenes as the true beneficiary of Socrates. He was among the very few men to openly mock “Alexander the Great” and live.

Being an alleged student of Antisthenes, he maintained his teacher’s asceticism and emphasis on ethics but carried out these philosophical positions with dynamism and sense of humor unique in the history of philosophy. He was the only person to be the pupil of Antisthenes. He is also remembered as “Diogenes of Sinope” or simply Diogenes. The anecdotes come from Diogenes Laërtius' book Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers and some other sources.Diogenes was a commendable Greek philosopher and one of the founders of the Cynic philosophy from Sinope. None of Diogenes' writings have survived, but there are some details of his life from anecdotes. Zeno worked on stoicism, which became one of the main schools of Greek philosophy. There he explained cynicism to Crates, who taught it to Zeno of Citium. He also made a notion of " cosmopolitan" on world citizenship first time in history.ĭiogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery. ĭiogenes helped Antisthenes create cynicism, a philosophy that focuses on living a simple life without the need for money, fame, power, or possessions. Diogenes was also noted for having publicly mocked Alexander the Great. He sabotaged Plato's lectures, distracting attenders by bringing food and eating during the discussions. He criticized Plato, disputed his interpretation of Socrates. He used to carry a lamp during the day, and claimed he was looking for an honest man. He became notorious for his philosophical stunts. He begged for a living and often slept in a large ceramic jar in the marketplace. This gave him a basis to criticize the social values and institutions of the corrupt, confused society he saw around him.ĭiogenes made a virtue of poverty. He had a simple life-style and behaviour. He was born in the town of Sinope (now called Sinop, Turkey) around the year 412 BC and died in the city of Corinth, Greece on the year 323 BC.Īfter being exiled for debasing the currency, he moved to Athens. Diogenes of Sinope (or Diogenes the Cynic) was an Ancient Greek philosopher.
