Diogenes' teachings of what is right and wrong. Diogenes: philosophical ideas of the philosopher Diogenes

People remember Diogenes. The first thing that comes to mind is that the sage renounced earthly goods and doomed himself to deprivation. No wonder they call him “the philosopher in a barrel.” Such knowledge about the fate of the sage and his scientific contribution is superficial.

Life arrangement

Ancient Greek thinker originally from Sinop. To become a philosopher, the man went to Athens. There the thinker met Antisthenes and asked to become his student. The master wanted to drive the poor fellow out with a stick, but the young man bent down and said: “There is no stick with which you could drive me away.” Antisthenes resigned himself.

Many sages have led ascetic image life, but Diogenes surpassed the teachers and all other learned hermits.

The man equipped himself with a home in the city square, completely abandoned household utensils, leaving himself only a drinking ladle. One day a sage saw a boy quenching his thirst with his palms. Then he got rid of the ladle, left his shack, and went wherever his eyes were looking. Trees, gateways, and an empty barrel covered with grass served as shelter for him.

Diogenes practically did not wear clothes, frightening the townspeople with his nakedness. In winter I did rubdowns, hardening, did not hide under the blanket, it was simply not there. People considered the eccentric a beggar, without family and tribe. But the thinker deliberately led such a way of existence. He believed that everything a person needs is given to him by nature; excesses only interfere with life and lull the mind. The philosopher actively participated in the life of the Athenians. Known as a debater, the man started talking about politics, social changes, criticized famous citizens. He was never put behind bars because of sweeping statements. Ability to get out of difficult situations by forcing people to think was the talent of a sage.

Philosophizing and rejection of material things

The philosophy of the Cynics reflects Diogenes' true judgments about the structure of society. Shocking, antisocial behavior forced others to think about real values ​​- why a person renounces benefits in favor of self-restraint.

His compatriots respected the thinker, despite his insolence, came to him for advice, considered him a sage, and even loved him. One day a little hooligan broke Diogenes' barrel - the townspeople gave him a new one.

The philosopher’s view was aimed at man achieving unity with nature, since man is a creation of nature, he is initially free, and material excesses contribute to the destruction of personality.

Once a thinker walking along the shopping aisles was asked: “You refuse material goods. Then why are you coming here?” To which he replied that he wanted to see objects that neither he nor humanity needed.

The philosopher often walked during the day with a lit “lamp”, explaining his actions by searching for honest people who could not be found even in the light of the sun and fire.

Sitting in a barrel, the sage approached strong of the world this. Having become closely acquainted with the thinker, Macedonian said: “If I had not been a king, I would have become Diogenes.” He consulted with a sage about the need to go to India. The philosopher was critical of the ruler’s plan, predicted infection with fever, and in a friendly manner advised the commander to become his neighbor in the barrel. Macedonsky refused, went to India and died there of fever.

Diogenes promoted freedom from temptation. He believed that marriages between people were an unnecessary relic; children and women should be shared. He ridiculed religion, faith as such. He saw kindness as a true value, but stated that people had forgotten how to show it, and were condescending towards their shortcomings.

Life path of a philosopher

The biography of the thinker begins in 412 BC, when he was born in the city of Sinope into a noble family. IN early years The Sinope thinker wanted to mint coins with his father, for which he was expelled from his hometown. His wanderings led him to Athens, where he became the successor of Antisthenes.

In the capital, a strange philosopher lives, preaching main principle ancient philosophy– distinguishing the essence of things from familiar images. His goal is to destroy generally accepted concepts of good and evil. The philosopher surpasses the teacher in popularity and strictness of lifestyle. He contrasts the voluntary renunciation of material wealth with the vanity, ignorance, and greed of the Athenians.

The biography of the thinker tells how he lived in a barrel. But the thing is that in Ancient Greece there were no barrels. The Thinker lived in a pithos - a large ceramic vessel, laid it on its side and calmly took a night's rest. During the day he wandered. In ancient times there were public baths, there a man monitored hygiene.

The year 338 BC was marked by the Battle of Chaeronea between Macedonia, Athens and Thebes. Despite the fact that the opposing armies were equally strong, Alexander the Great and Philip II crushed the Greeks. Diogenes, like many other Athenians, was captured by the Macedonians. The sage ended up on the slave market, where Xeniades bought him as a slave.

The philosopher died in 323 BC. e. What his death was is anyone's guess. There are several versions - poisoning by raw octopus, a bite from a rabid dog, an unfinished practice of holding one's breath. The philosopher treated death and the treatment of the dead after it with humor. He was once asked, “How would you like to be buried?” The Thinker suggested: “Throw me outside the city, the wild animals will do their job.” “Won’t you be scared?” the curious were not appeased. “Then give me the club,” continued the philosopher. Onlookers wondered how he would use a weapon while dead. Diogenes sneered: “Then why should I be afraid if I’m already dead?”

A monument was erected at the thinker’s grave in the form of a stray dog ​​lying down to rest.

Discussions with Plato

Not all his contemporaries treated him with sympathy. Plato considered him insane. This opinion was based on the lifestyle of the Sinope thinker, and to a lesser extent on his philosophical ideas. Plato reproached his opponent for shamelessness, viciousness, uncleanliness, and disgustingness. The truth was in his words: Diogenes, as a representative of a cynical person, wandered, relieved himself in front of the townspeople, publicly masturbated, and violated moral laws in various ways. Plato believed that there should be moderation in everything; such unpleasant spectacles should not be put on display.

Regarding science, two philosophers entered into an argument. Plato spoke of man as an animal without feathers on two legs. Diogenes came up with the idea of ​​plucking a rooster and presenting to observers “a new individual according to Plato.” The opponent retorted: “Then, according to Diogenes, a person is a mixture of a madman who has escaped from a mental hospital and a half-naked tramp running after the royal retinue.”

Slavery as power

When the thinker entered the slave market after the Battle of Chaeronea, they asked him what talents he possessed. Diogenes said: “What I know best is to rule over people.”

The sage was enslaved by Xeniades and became a teacher for his two sons. Diogenes taught the boys to ride horses and throw darts. He taught the children history and Greek poetry. Once he was asked: “Why don’t you, being a slave, wash your own apples?”, the answer was amazing: “If I washed my own apples, I would not be a slave.”

Asceticism as a way of life

Diogenes is an extraordinary philosopher, in an ideal way whose life was asceticism. The thinker viewed it as complete, unlimited freedom, independence from imposed restrictions. He watched how a mouse, needing almost nothing, lived in its hole, being content with insignificant things. Following her example, the sage also sat down in pithos and became happy.

When his compatriots were preparing for war, he simply rolled his barrel. To the question: “What are you doing on the threshold of war?” Diogenes replied: “I also want to do something, since I have nothing else - I’m rolling a barrel.”

Diogenes was born in 412 BC. in the Greek colony of Sinop on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Information about him early years they didn’t reach us. What is known for certain is that his father, Gitsesius, was a trapezite. Apparently, Diogenes helped his father in banking. The story describes a case when a father and son brought trouble upon themselves by being caught in falsification or counterfeiting of coins. As a result, Diogenes is expelled from the city. This story is confirmed by archaeological evidence in the form of several counterfeit coins with minted marks found in Sinop and dated to the 4th century. BC There are also other coins from the same period with the name of Hycaesius engraved on them as the person who issued them. The reasons for this incident remain unclear to this day, however, given that in the 4th century there were clashes between pro-Persian and pro-Greek groups in Sinop, this act could have had political motives. There is another version of this event, according to which Diogenes goes for advice to the oracle of Delphi, receiving in response a prophecy about a “change of course,” and Diogenes understands that this is not about the exchange rate of coins, but about a change in political direction. And then he goes to Athens, ready to challenge existing values ​​and ways of life.

In Athens

Upon arrival in Athens, Diogenes aims at the metaphorical destruction of the “minted” foundations. The destruction of generally accepted values ​​and traditions becomes the main goal of his life. The people of antiquity, without thinking about the true nature of evil, weakly relied on established ideas about it. This distinction between the essence and the usual images is one of the favorite themes of Greek philosophy ancient world. There is evidence that Diogenes arrived in Athens accompanied by a slave named Manes, who, however, soon ran away from him. With his natural sense of humor, Diogenes shrugs off the failure that befell him with the words: “If Manes can live without Diogenes, why not Diogenes live without Manes?” The philosopher will joke about this relationship, in which one is completely dependent on the other, more than once. Diogenes is literally fascinated by the ascetic teaching of Antisthenes, a student of Socrates. Therefore, despite all the difficulties that he has to face at the beginning, Diogenes becomes a faithful follower of Antisthenes. Whether the two philosophers actually met or not remains unclear, but Diogenes soon surpassed Antisthenes in both the reputation he had won and the severity of his lifestyle. Diogenes sets his voluntary renunciation of earthly goods in contrast to the morals of the Athenians that existed at that time. And these views lead him to a deep rejection of all stupidity, pretense, vanity, self-deception and falsity of human behavior.

According to the rumors surrounding his life, this is the enviable consistency of his character. Diogenes successfully adapts to any weather changes, living in a tub near the temple of Cybele. Having once seen a peasant boy drinking from clasped palms, the philosopher breaks his only wooden cup. In Athens at that time, it was not customary to eat in the market squares, but Diogenes ate stubbornly, proving that every time he wanted to eat at the market. Another oddity of his behavior was that, among broad daylight, he always walked with a lighted lamp. When they asked him what he needed the lamp for, he answered: “I’m looking for an honest man.” He constantly looked for humanity in people, but more often he came across only scammers and crooks. When Plato, echoing Socrates, called man a “featherless two-legged animal,” for which everyone around him lavished praise on him, Diogenes brought him a chicken and said: “Look! I brought you a man." After this incident, Plato revised the definition and added to it the characteristic “with wide, flat nails.”

In Corinth

If you believe the testimony of Menippus from Gadara, Diogenes once set off on a voyage to the shores of Aegina, during which he was captured by pirates who sold the philosopher into slavery to a Corinthian from Crete named Xeniades. When Diogenes was asked about his craft, he replied that he knew no other craft than to instruct people on the right path, and that he wanted to be sold to someone who himself needed an owner. The philosopher would spend his entire subsequent life in Corinth, becoming a mentor to the two sons of Xeniades. He devotes his entire life to preaching the doctrines of chaste self-control. There is a version according to which he conveyed his views to a wider audience, speaking to the public at the Isthmian Games.

Relationship with Alexander

Already in Corinth, Diogenes meets with Alexander the Great. According to the testimony of Plutarch and Diogenes Laertius, the two exchanged only a few words. One morning, while Diogenes was resting, basking in the rays of the sun, he was disturbed to present famous philosopher, Alexandru. When asked if he was glad to have such an honor, Diogenes replied: “Yes, only you are blocking the sun for me,” to which Alexander said: “If I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes.” There is another story according to which Alexander found Diogenes contemplating a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained his occupation as follows: “I am looking for the bones of your father, but I just can’t distinguish them from slaves.”

Death

Diogenes died in 323 BC. There have been many versions of his death. Some believe that he died while practicing holding his breath, others believe that he was poisoned by raw octopus, and some are of the opinion that he died from the bite of a sick dog. When the philosopher was asked how he wanted to be buried, he always answered that he would like to be thrown outside the city wall, so that wild animals would feast on his body. In response to whether he himself would be scared from this, he replied: “Not at all, if you provide me with a stick.” To all the amazed remarks about how he could use a stick when he had no consciousness, Diogenes said: “Why should I then worry when I won’t have consciousness anyway?” Already in more late period Throughout his life, Diogenes would make fun of the excessive interest people show in the “proper” treatment of the dead. In memory of him, the Corinthians erected a column of Parian marble, on which a dog, curled up, sleeps.

Diogenes born in the city of Sinop in 412 BC. died in 323 in the city of Corinth. Philosopher and great thinker In ancient Greece, Diogenes was a student of Antisthenes, who founded the school. According to sources, Diogenes was the son of a money changer-merchant. One day, approaching the oracle and asking him the question: “What is my calling in life, what should I do?”, he received a rather strange answer: “Reassessment of values.” Diogenes initially understood this as reminting coins, but when he was expelled, the philosopher realized his calling.

Philosopher Diogenes of Sinope

When Diogenes of Sinope arrived in Athens, he found Antisthenes and stayed with him. There is a well-known story that Antisthenes tried to drive away a potential student by swinging a stick at him. To which Diogenes, exposing his head to the blow, said:

“Strike, but you won’t find a stick strong enough to drive me away until you say something.”

Diogenes lived in a clay vessel - pithos, located underground. Oil, grain, wine, olives were usually stored in such vessels, and even people were buried. The information that he lived in a barrel is unreliable - the Greeks did not make wooden barrels at that time. Diogenes' home was not far from the Athenian Agora (a famous place in Athens with an area of ​​5 hectares). One day, Diogenes’s home was destroyed by children, but the townspeople provided him with a new vessel.

Diogenes had someone to argue with, and often the object of his ridicule and the person whom Diogenes so zealously criticized was. For example, in response to Plato’s saying that man is “a biped without feathers,” Diogenes plucked a rooster and shouted that this is a man according to Plato. Plato also did not remain in debt and called Diogenes mad. Diogenes criticized philosophical concept Plato of the essence of things, saying: “I see the cup, but not the cup.” When Plato noticed the meager lifestyle of Diogenes, he noted, referring to himself: “When I was in the slavery of Syracuse to the tyrant Dionysius, I did not even wash the vegetables there,” to which Diogenes answered him: “I would not have fallen into slavery if I would wash them myself.”

Diogenes constantly shocked those around him with his behavior. The image of Diogenes with a lantern lit in broad daylight and the phrase “I am looking for a man” became classics during his lifetime.

Also, Diogenes argued that musicians tune the strings of the lyre, but are not in harmony with themselves and their own character. One day, Diogenes was leaving the bathhouse and met some acquaintances along the way, and when asked how many people were there, he answered, “There are plenty.” A little later I met more acquaintances and when asked if there were many people there, he shook his head and said that he didn’t see people there.

Slavery of Diogenes of Sinope

Diogenes of Sinope took part in the Battle of Chaeronea, (Battle of Chaeronea), but suddenly became a prisoner of the Macedonians and was sold into slavery from the slave market. When asked what he could do, he answered: “Rule people.” The philosopher was bought by the wealthy Xeniades as a teacher and mentor to his children. Diogenes taught children to throw darts and ride horses, while simultaneously teaching them Greek poetry and history.

Asceticism of Diogenes of Sinope

Diogenes of Sinope, through his way of life, spoke about the ideal of asceticism and used as an example a mouse that did not strive for anything and was not afraid of anything, but lived content with the minimum. If we go into the essence of asceticism, then its main meaning is precisely in gaining independence and striving for freedom.

Diogenes was a very extraordinary person, not to say “strange.” For example, he was seen walking bare feet in the snow. And when Attica, where he lived, was on the brink of war with Philip of Macedon, Diogenes rolled his pithos (clay barrel) back and forth. To the question: “Why are you doing this when everyone is preparing for war?”, he said that everyone is busy and he also needs something to do, and he rolls a barrel because he has nothing else.

Alexander the Great and Diogenes

The great king and politician Alexander the Great, upon arriving in Attica, decided to look at the famous thinker Diogenes, and waited for him to come to him, but Diogenes was in no hurry. Then Alexander the Great came to him himself and said:

“I am the great King, Alexander the Great”

And immediately I heard in response: “And I am the dog Diogenes.”

“And why do they call you a dog?” - asked the king.
“Whoever throws a piece, I wag, whoever doesn’t throw, I bark, whoever angry man“I bite,” answered the philosopher.
“Are you afraid of me?” — Alexander the Great asked the next question.
“What are you?” - asked Diogenes, - “Evil or good?”
“Good,” answered the king.
“And who is afraid of good?”

Realizing that Diogenes really is not so simple and very smart despite all his outlandish habits, Alexander said:

"Ask me for whatever you want"

“Move away, you are blocking the sun for me,” said Diogenes

Interesting fact: Alexander the Great and Diogenes of Sinope died on the same day - June 10, 323 BC. uh

Diogenes of Sinope, quotes

“When extending your hand to friends, do not clench your fingers into a fist.”
“Poverty itself paves the way to philosophy; what philosophy tries to do
convince in words, poverty forces you to carry it out in deeds.”
“You teach the illiterate and unenlightened the so-called graceful
arts, so that when you need them, you have educated
People. Why don’t you re-educate the bad ones so that you can use them later?
use them when there is a need for honest people, just like you
do you need thugs to capture someone else’s city or camp?”
“The evil-speaker is the fiercest of wild beasts; the flatterer is the most dangerous of
tame animals."
“Gratitude ages the fastest.”
“Philosophy and medicine have made man the most intelligent of animals;
fortune telling and astrology - the craziest; superstition and despotism - the most
unhappy."
“Those who keep animals must recognize that rather they serve
animals than animals to them.”
“Death is not evil, for there is no dishonor in it.”
“Philosophy gives you readiness for any turn of fate.”
"I am a citizen of the world."

Antiquity is considered fertile ground for the emergence of schools of philosophy - humanity has already made a cultural leap and expanded the horizons of knowledge, which, in turn, has given rise to even more questions. Then the teaching was formulated, supplemented and revised by his illustrious student. This teaching has become a classic and therefore remains relevant to this day.

Ancient philosophers in Raphael's painting "The School of Athens"

But there were others philosophical schools, for example, the school of Cynics, founded by another student of Socrates - Antisthenes. A prominent representative of this trend is Diogenes of Sinope, who became famous for his eternal disputes with Plato, as well as for his shocking (sometimes even vulgar) antics.

Childhood and youth

Little is known about the life of Diogenes, and the information that remains is controversial. What is known about the biography of the philosopher fits into one chapter of the book of his namesake, the late antique scientist and bibliographer Diogenes Laertius “On the Life, Teachings and Sayings famous philosophers».

According to the book, ancient Greek philosopher born in 412 BC, in the city of Sinope (hence the nickname), located on the Black Sea coast. Nothing is known about Diogenes' mother. The boy’s father, Hykesius, worked as a trapezite - that’s what money changers and money lenders were called in Ancient Greece.

Diogenes' childhood passed through turbulent times - conflicts constantly broke out between pro-Greek and pro-Persian groups in his hometown. Due to the difficult social situation, Hykesius began to counterfeit coins, but Trapezita was quickly caught red-handed. Diogenes, who was also about to be arrested and punished, managed to escape from the city. And so began the guy’s journey, which led him to Delphi.

In Delphi, tired and exhausted, Diogenes turned to the local oracle with the question of what to do next. The answer, as expected, was vague: “Reconsider values ​​and priorities.” At that moment, Diogenes did not understand these words, so he did not attach any significance to them and went on wandering.

Philosophy

The road led Diogenes to Athens, where he encountered the philosopher Antisthenes in the city square. It is not known how their acquaintance took place, but Antisthenes struck Diogenes to the core, and Diogenes aroused a feeling of hostility in Antisthenes. Then Diogenes decided to stay in Athens to become a student of the philosopher.

Diogenes did not have money (according to some sources, it was stolen by his comrade Manes, with whom Diogenes arrived in Athens), so he could not afford to buy a house or even rent a room. But this did not become a problem for the future philosopher: Diogenes dug next to the temple of Cybele (not far from the Athenian agora - the central square) a pithos - a large clay barrel in which the Greeks stored food so that it would not disappear (ancient version of the refrigerator). Diogenes began to live in a barrel (pithos), which served as the basis for the expression “Diogenes’ barrel.”

Although not immediately, Diogenes managed to become a student of Antisthenes - the elderly philosopher could not get rid of the persistent student even by beating him with a stick. As a result, it was this student who glorified Cynicism as a school of ancient philosophy.

The philosophy of Diogenes was based on asceticism, the renunciation of all living goods, and the imitation of nature. Diogenes did not recognize states, politicians, religion and clergy (an echo of communication with the Delphic oracle), and considered himself a cosmopolitan - a citizen of the world.

After the death of his teacher, Diogenes’s affairs became very bad; the townspeople believed that he had lost his mind, as evidenced by his regular antics. It is known that Diogenes publicly engaged in masturbation, exclaiming that it would be wonderful if hunger could be satisfied by stroking the stomach.

During a conversation with the philosopher, he called himself a dog, but Diogenes called himself that way before. One day, several townspeople threw him a bone like a dog and wanted to force him to chew it. However, they could not predict the result - like a dog, Diogenes took revenge on bullies and offenders by urinating on them.

There were also less extravagant performances. Seeing the incompetent archer, Diogenes sat down near the target, saying that this was the safest place. Standing naked in the rain. When the townspeople tried to take Diogenes under the canopy, Plato said that they shouldn’t: the best help for Diogenes’ vanity would be to not touch him.

The history of disagreements between Plato and Diogenes is interesting, but Diogenes only once managed to really beat his opponent beautifully - this is the case of Plato’s man and the plucked chicken. In other cases, victory remained with Plato. Modern scholars are of the opinion that the native of Sinop was simply jealous of his more successful opponent.

It is also known about the conflict with other philosophers, including Anaximenes of Lampsacus and Aristippus. In between skirmishes with competitors, Diogenes continued to do weird things and answer people's questions. One of the philosopher's eccentricities gave a name to another catchphrase- "Diogenes' lantern." The philosopher walked around the square with a lantern during the day, exclaiming: “I am looking for a man.”

In this way he expressed his attitude towards the people around him. Diogenes often spoke unflatteringly about the inhabitants of Athens. One day the philosopher began to give a lecture in the market, but no one listened to him. Then he squealed like a bird, and a crowd immediately gathered around him.

“This is the level of your development,” said Diogenes, “when I said smart things, they ignored me, but when I crowed like a rooster, everyone began to watch with interest.”

When the military conflict between the Greeks and the Macedonian king Philip II began, Diogenes left Athens, going by ship to the shores of Aegina. However, it was not possible to get there - the ship was captured by pirates, and everyone on it was either killed or captured.

From captivity, Diogenes was sent to the slave market, where he was purchased by the Corinthian Xeanides so that the philosopher would teach his children. It is worth noting that Diogenes was a good teacher - in addition to horse riding, throwing darts, history and Greek literature, the philosopher taught the children of Xeanidas to eat and dress modestly, as well as to engage in physical exercise to maintain their physical fitness and health.

Students and acquaintances offered the philosopher to buy him out of slavery, but he refused, claiming that this supposedly illustrates the fact that even in slavery he can be “the master of his master.” In fact, Diogenes enjoyed a roof over his head and regular meals.

The philosopher died on June 10, 323, while in slavery under Xeanides. Diogenes was buried face down - as requested. At his grave in Corinth there was a tombstone made of Parian marble with words of gratitude from his students and wishes for eternal glory. A dog was also made from marble, symbolizing the life of Diogenes.

Diogenes introduced himself to Alexander the Great as a dog when the Macedonian king decided to get acquainted with the famous marginal philosopher. To Alexander’s question: “Why a dog?” Diogenes answered simply: “Whoever throws a piece, I wag, whoever does not throw, I bark, and whoever offends, I bite.” To a humorous question about the breed of dog, the philosopher also answered without further ado: “When hungry - Maltese (i.e. affectionate), when full - Milosian (i.e. angry).”

Personal life

Diogenes denied the family and the state, arguing that children and wives are common, and there are no borders between countries. Based on this, it is difficult to establish the philosopher’s biological children.

Essays

According to Diogenes Laertius, the philosopher from Sinope left behind 14 philosophical works and 2 tragedies (in some sources the number of tragedies increases to 7). Most of them have survived thanks to other writers and philosophers using the sayings and sayings of Diogenes.

The surviving works include On Wealth, On Virtue, The Athenian People, The Science of Morals and On Death, and the tragedies include Hercules and Helen.

Quotes

• “Poverty itself paves the way to philosophy. What philosophy tries to convince in words, poverty forces us to do in practice.”
• “Philosophy and medicine have made man the most intelligent of animals, fortune telling and astrology the most insane, superstition and despotism the most unfortunate.”
• “Treat dignitaries like fire: stand neither very close nor very far from them.”

Diogenes of Sinope (IV century BC) is considered the most brilliant Cynic philosopher. The name of this philosophical direction- Cynics, according to one version, arose from the name of the Athenian gymnasium Kinosarg ("sharp dog", "frisky dogs"), in which Socrates' student Antisthenes taught (V-IV centuries BC). It is Antisthenes who is considered the founder of Cynicism. According to another version, the term “cynic” is derived from the ancient Greek word “kynikos” - dog. And in this sense, the philosophy of the Cynics is “dog philosophy.” This version is consistent with the essence of Cynic philosophy, whose representatives argued that human needs are animal in nature and called themselves dogs.

Diogenes was born in the city of Sinope, an Asia Minor city on the shores of the Pontus Euxine (Black Sea), but was expelled from his hometown for making counterfeit money. Since then, Diogenes wandered around the cities of Ancient Greece, and lived for the longest time in Athens.

If Antisthenes developed, so to speak, the theory of cynicism, then Diogenes not only developed the ideas expressed by Antisthenes, but also created a kind of ideal of cynic life. This ideal included the main elements of Cynic philosophy: preaching the unlimited spiritual freedom of the individual; demonstrative disregard for all customs and generally accepted norms of life; renunciation of pleasures, wealth, power; contempt for fame, success, nobility.

The motto of all Cynics can be considered the words of Diogenes: “I am looking for a man.” According to legend, Diogenes, endlessly repeating this phrase, walked among the crowd with a lit lantern in broad daylight. The meaning of this act of the philosopher was that he demonstrated to people their incorrect understanding of the essence of the human personality.

Diogenes argued that a person always has at his disposal the means to be happy. However, most people live in illusions, understanding happiness as wealth, fame, and pleasure. He saw his task precisely as debunking these illusions. It is characteristic that Diogenes argued the uselessness of mathematics, physics, music, science in general, believing that a person should know only himself, his own unique personality.

In this sense, the Cynics became successors of the teachings of Socrates, developing to the limit his idea about the illusory nature of the ordinary human idea of ​​​​happiness, good and evil. No wonder Plato called Diogenes “the maddened Socrates.”

True happiness, according to Diogenes, lies in the complete freedom of the individual. Only those who are free from most needs are free. Diogenes designated the means for achieving freedom with the concept of “ascesis” - effort, hard work. Asceticism is not easy philosophical concept. It is a way of life based on constant training of body and spirit in order to be prepared for all sorts of adversities in life; the ability to control one’s own desires; cultivating contempt for pleasure and pleasure.

Diogenes himself became an example of an ascetic sage in history. Diogenes had no property. At one time, emphasizing his contempt for human habits, he lived in a pithos - a large clay vessel for wine. Once he saw a boy drinking water from a handful, he threw the cup out of his bag, saying: “The boy has surpassed me in the simplicity of his life.” He also threw away the bowl when he saw a boy who, having broken his bowl, was eating lentil soup from a piece of eaten bread. Diogenes asked for alms from the statue, and when asked why he was doing this, he said: “To accustom himself to refusal.”

The philosopher's behavior was defiant, even extremist. For example, when he came to one luxurious house, he spat in the owner’s face in response to a request to maintain order. When Diogenes borrowed money, he said that he only wanted to take what was owed to him. And one day he began to call people, and when they came running, he attacked them with a stick, saying that he was calling people, not scoundrels. Emphasizing his difference from those around him and expressing his contempt for them, he repeatedly called himself “Diogenes the dog.”

Diogenes considered the ideal, the goal of life, to be the achievement of a state of “autarky” (self-sufficiency), when a person comprehends vanity outside world and the meaning of his existence becomes indifference to everything except the peace of his own soul. In this sense, the episode of the meeting between Diogenes and Alexander the Great is characteristic. Having heard about Diogenes, the greatest sovereign wished to meet him. But when he approached the philosopher and said: “Ask what you want,” Diogenes replied: “Do not block the sun from me.” This answer precisely contains the idea of ​​autarky, for for Diogenes everything, including Alexander, is completely indifferent, except his own soul and his own ideas about happiness.

Already in ancient times, the teaching of the Cynics began to be called the shortest road to virtue. And on the grave of Diogenes a marble monument was erected in the form of a dog with the inscription: “Even bronze wears out over time, but your glory, Diogenes, will never pass away, for only you were able to convince mortals that life in itself is sufficient, and show the simplest path life."